Bad Xander
by Tezza1502
Summary: Part way through season 3, Xander was knocked unconscious by Angel as a way to convince Faith that he had reverted to Angelus. The plan was to find out what the Mayor was up to. What if Xander was found by Sunnydale's nightlife while knocked out...
1. Prologue

BAD XANDER

By: Tezza1502

Disclaimer: 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', it's characters and it's stories do not in any way belong to me, nor do I seek or am I making any monetary profit from this fanfiction. It is © Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, the WB, plus various other people and business entities. So there.

Notes: Basically, this one is going to be about Xander when he gets turned. 'Big whoop!', I hear from the peanut gallery, 'Plenty of those out there.' True enough, but I wanna play in this sandbox for a while. This one's going to start in Season-3 during the episode 'Enemies', when Faith and the Mayor were trying to bring forth Angelus again. During the episode, everyone's favourite butt-monkey happens across 'Angelus' & Faith. He then gets punched out and left on the side of the road. Not a good idea in Sunnydale. I'm just wondering, what if something found him?

The end of the episode will play out a little differently than in the series because of the above facts.

* * *

PROLOGUE:- That's gonna leave a mark.

Xander was wandering around downtown Sunnydale, muttering to himself about the way Cordelia Chase had been fawning over the new, somewhat older Watcher earlier in the school library. While it had been kinda fun to watch Wesley Wyndam-Pryce squirm vigorously as Xander's Ex rather openly flirted with him, deep down the teen felt that a part of her actions were squarely directed at him.

'_Way to try and make me jealous, Cordy. And __**she **__claimed to be the mature one in our relationship!' _He snorted with sad amusement. _'In any case, she's gonna have to try a __**lot **__harder to get under my skin. If I can put up with being passed over in favour of the __undead__ in the boyfriend stakes, I can live with my Ex making goo-goo eyes at the wannabe Watcher!' _He fumed to himself.

Coming around the corner, he spotted Angel and Faith walking together determinedly. Opening his mouth to ask whether they had seen Buffy recently, he barely saw the haymaker that knocked him unconscious. The last thing that ran through his mind before the darkness swamped him was a rather unkindly, _'I __knew__ he was evil!'_.

* * *

Later on back at the library, after Faith had managed to get away from both Buffy and Angel following the big reveal over the way they had played her, the Scoobies were sitting around the table in the centre of the foyer. Giles had just finished explaining to them about how the demon that was supposed to remove Angel's soul had come to him earlier to see whether this information was enough to balance the debt between them.

"So, what do we do now?" Willow asked nervously.

"Well, first of all the council will have to be informed that we have a rogue slayer on our hands, of course." Giles nodded in the direction of Wesley, acknowledging his earlier outburst about calling the Watchers Council. "Next comes the arduous task of discovering more about the Ascension. Seeing as how our only real lead is now in the hands of the Mayor, we will have to seek alternative avenues for our answers." He said as he removed his glasses to give them a fretful cleaning.

"Y'know, I'm surprised donut boy isn't around." Cordelia announced suddenly. "I'm sure he would've been all over the apparent return of Angelus with the 'I told you so's'."

"What do you mean?" Willow asks. "He went looking for Angel earlier, to see if he knew where Buffy was." The redhead points at Buffy, confused. "Actually, where _is _he? We haven't heard from him since he left."

'Um, maybe he went home?" Buffy says weakly.

"_Puh_-lease! With his precious Buffy missing in action? I'm surprised we can't hear him gnashing his teeth in frustration from wherever he is right now to here over not being able to find you!" Cordelia snorts.

Buffy was a little lost at that. "Um, should we call his home, to see if he's there?"

"_**NO!**_" Came the shout from both Willow _and _Cordelia. Everyone in the room looked at them in surprise, mostly over the fact that they seemed to be agreeing with each other on something.

Recovering, Cordelia gestured to Willow to give the explanation.

"He, ah, he doesn't have a separate phone line to his room." She stated, as if that explained everything.

It didn't. "So?" Wesley enquired.

"So, there's a good chance you'd get his…_parents _I s'pose you'd call them, if you rang." Cordelia continued, remembering the one and only time she had ever made the mistake of ringing the Harris residence. After that conversation, she had never directly made fun of his home life again. And actually felt ashamed that she had ever done so in the past. "You're better off sneaking around and knocking on his window to see if the doofus is there." She finished in a kinder tone than anyone in the room could remember her using since she and Oz had caught Xander kissing Willow.

Buffy came out of her introspective mood a little more at the thought that her Xander-shaped friend might be missing. "Giles, can I use your phone?" She asked hypothetically as she headed for his office without waiting for a reply.

"Sure." He replied with a curious expression. "Who are you calling at this hour?"

"Angel." She threw over her shoulder. "He might have spotted Xander while he was…out…tonight. With Faith."

"_Oohh_. Trouble in paradise?" Cordelia murmured quietly after the slayer had safely exited the room.

Not quietly enough. "Keep you're opinions to yourself, Cordelia." Willow stated firmly. Between knowing a part of what was bothering Buffy over Angel, and a growing sense that her oldest friend might be in trouble, she was in no mood for Cordelia's patented snide remarks right now.

* * *

Angel was brooding.

Anyone at all in the slightest way familiar with the ensouled vampire would snort at that observation and enquire, 'So, what else is new?'

However, at this particular time, he was pondering whether he was doing more harm to Buffy by staying in town than good. Perhaps it was time he left and pursued his redemption elsewhere.

It was not a decision he wanted to make lightly. But, considering the look his former lover had given him before she had left with Giles to explain their plan to the others, he knew he was in for a rough time when Buffy returned. His actions with Faith while pretending to be Angelus had not gone over well with the young Slayer.

And when a familiar demon appeared suddenly in the room with him, dressed like a seventies pimp and looking angrier than he could ever recall, Angel knew that his night was about to get infinitely more complicated. "Whistler?"

"Angel." The balance demon replied evenly, his familiar Brooklyn accent almost nonexistent. "You know what I am, right? What I do."

"Yeah. You're a messenger of the Powers-That-Be. A balance demon." Angel shrugged, wondering where this conversation was going.

"Good." The demon said as he walked closer. "Then you'll get why I did this without getting too upset." Before Angel could ask the obvious question, Whistler stepped in close and landed a savage uppercut squarely on the vampire's chin.

"WHULF" Angel exclaimed when he finally landed on the other side of the room. Immediately, he was on his feet and stalking towards his attacker. "What was that for?" He demanded.

"Balance." The demon answered simply, unperturbed by the fury he was currently face to face with.

"What? What are you talking about? I haven't…" Angels rage subsided as he remembered a brief incident earlier in the night.

"Uh-huh. Lights going on up there somewhere, ratboy?" Whistler asked sarcastically as he tapped Angel's forehead roughly. "Something occurring to you?"

"…Xander."

"Bingo!" The other man snorted. "That kid was a part of the plan for this town, y'know. For the witch, and the Watcher. But mostly for the Slayer. He was her White Knight." Angel cringed slightly at that, recalling some of his time as Angelus. Whistler ignored him and continued speaking, "The one who was supposed to lift her up when she was down, and keep her on the path when she strayed. Regardless of the cost, he was always supposed to be there for her. Always…" Whistler stopped talking and waited.

"Wait a minute. What do you mean, 'was'." Angel started getting a bad feeling in his undead stomach.

"Lemme ask you a question about tonight." The demon answered the query with one of his own. "When you saw the kid tonight, what did you do?"

"I, uh, I punched him out." Angel replied sheepishly, struggling to conceal the childish enjoyment he had gotten out of the act. "But only to reinforce to Faith that I was evil again. It was part of a plan." He almost whined.

"Uh-huh." Whistler nodded. "So, you punched the lights out of someone who is well known to the nightlife of this town as a good friend and ally of the slayer, and left him on the side of the road, unconscious, to fend for himself."

"Uh, yeah." Angel looked confused for a minute, before what little colour was in his face drained away completely. "Oh no…" He whispered.

"Oh yes." Whistler contradicted him sadly. "My sources tell me that he was found and turned less than ten minutes after you knocked him out. Your stupid little stunt just cost an agent of the light his life, and cut the heart out of that little group of fighters you've been hanging around with for the past few years."

The balance demon closed the distance between them and patted Angel on the shoulder.

"Congratulations!"

As Whistler stepped back into the shadows and disappeared, the phone in Angel's bedroom started ringing.

* * *

Notes: Okay, you readers with a better memory than me will probably remember that Xander actually turned up later at the Library to tell the others that Angelus was back and spit out a couple of 'I Told You So's'.

After going over the episode in question, I figured that it doesn't actually change the course of the story if he failed to show. At all, really. I mean, all he did was rock up, tell them, and they all headed off to Angel's mansion just in time to see Faith flee out the back door. I figure that if he _didn't _show up, all that would have happened was that Buffy returned to the Library alone to inform the others about 'The Great Deception' _then_, instead of on the walk back. The rest of them just lived in ignorance a little longer.

Anyway, that's my story, an' I'm sticking to it! Next Chapter will be about what happens next. See ya then! T


	2. Chapter 1

BAD XANDER

By: Tezza1502

Disclaimer: I do not own, or in any way make profit from, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. It's © Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, WB, and various others. I just write these to take my mind off work. Which is where I go to keep my mind off writing my stories.

Notes: Hey hey, here we go. Uh, bad language will be present. As will the odd spot of violence. Enjoy!

* * *

PART 1: _inside/_OUTSIDE

_**inside…**_

_Xander was running._

_While not a new sensation for him, this time the situation was worse. Much worse._

_Something was chasing him. Surrounding him._

_And he was sure that this time, he wasn't going to get away, or run into a handy slayer, or any of the hundred __other__ coincidences that have kept him alive these past couple of years._

_This time, he was done. _

_Finished._

_Kaput!_

_However…_

_He was Xander. _

_And to quote one of his favourite movie lines, he was not going to go quietly into the night._

_Not without a fight._

_And a lot of running._

* * *

**OUTSIDE**

"YOU FUCKING _WHAT?_"

Everyone looked up sharply from whatever they were doing in the school library and stared in the direction of Giles' office.

"Buffy! Language please." Giles chided gently from his position near the front desk.

"AND YOU JUST _LEFT__ HIM THERE?_"

At that statement, a small sense of dread began to bloom within the assembled scoobies. It quickly grew into something much bigger when they heard Buffy call out Giles' name in a tone of utter desolation.

The ex-Watcher blurred as he rushed to his slayers side. The rest of them paused in shock for a moment, before they swiftly made their own way towards the room.

Inside, they saw Giles kneeling down next to Buffy, who was clutching on to him desperately and sobbing, "no no _no _he's lying he's mistaken he's wrong _their _wrong this can't be happening to us it can't be happening to _him _he was the normal one the one who would escape this town escape this life and have a normal job a _normal _life get married raise kids and _never _have to worry about the things that go bump in the night or the fight it's _my _fight not his fight he was supposed to stay fray-adjacent oh god it was our plan a _good _plan no-one was supposed to get hurt what do we do what did we do how do we fix this I don't want to have to go through this again-"

Seeing that Buffy was gone for the moment, Willow picked up the dangling phone and tried to get some answers from the person on the other end of the line in a soft voice.

"Angel?"

"…"

"Buffy's gone bye-bye for now. What happened? What did you tell her?"

"…"

"_I don't care! _Just tell me!"

"…"

"Uh-huh?"

"…"

"Uh-huh."

"…"

"Right."

"…"

"We'll get back to you on that."

"…"

"Goodbye."

By the time she hung up the phone and turned around to face the other Scoobies, Willow was trembling violently. "Angel says that Xander was turned earlier tonight." Was all she managed to get out before pitching forward and fainting into Oz's arms.

* * *

_**inside…**_

_After a while, he didn't know how long, Xander stopped running around in a blind panic and started to think. While the swirling darkness felt wrong and evil and utterly fear-inducing, it wasn't actually touching him or hurting him. And how did he know that it was swirling if there was no light to see it by, anyway?_

_Really looking around for the first time, he noticed that there was a faint glow emanating from somewhere, allowing him to see the black particles invading the space surrounding him. He looked down at himself and noted to his great surprise that the light was actually coming from him. He also noted that he was currently naked, and about as anatomically correct as a Ken doll._

_While this disturbed him, (After all, he liked those bits that normally protruded from him. They gave him hours, well minutes, of enjoyment in private. Several times a day.) he was less freaked out than he felt he should be. He then guessed that with everything he's been through since a certain blonde Slayer came to town, his threshold for shock was somewhat higher than most normal people._

_Suddenly, as if noticing that the bright mote within it was not reacting as it should be, the swirling darkness suddenly lunged forward and tried to penetrate Xander._

_With a soundless strike, he felt himself hurled through the air at the impact. Travelling no small distance through the air, he slammed to the ground and skidded along until his momentum had bled away. _

_Getting on to his hands and knees and trying to shake away the grogginess from the impact, he noticed to his horror that the light he was producing had also been bled away a little. As he watched, the faint glowing trail he had left behind from his flight was seized upon and consumed violently by whatever it was that was invading him. And looking down at himself, his feelings of dread increased when he noted that the impact point from the invisible blow was deepening towards the same colour as the darkness._

_Realising that Stage Two of whatever was happening to him was beginning now in earnest, Xander screamed inarticulately and began running again._

* * *

**OUTSIDE**

The rest of the night in the library passed in a blur.

Buffy was too distraught to do anything but ramble mindlessly about how Xander was the one who was supposed to be able to walk away from this life of hers.

Giles comforted his broken Slayer as best he could, while a part of his mind began planning contingencies. As much as he hated to be thinking along those lines, this was literally _the _worst-case scenario as far as the scoobies were concerned.

Willow had basically shut down, mentally and physically. While she loved Oz, and had been trying to make things work between them since The Fluke, Xander was still an essential part of her soul. If he was dead, she wasn't sure that she wanted to keep living either.

Oz held his mate in his arms, trying to comfort her as best he could.

Cordelia just sat in a chair, her focus turned inward while unconsciously dabbing away the occasional tear. Yes, Xander had hurt her greatly. Yes, he had broken her heart. But this…

Wesley had made one attempt at speaking. After being told by Giles in no uncertain terms that unless he had a solution to the current situation he should kindly shut up, he had fallen silent for a while.

Half an hour later, he gathered up his courage and spoke again. "Mr. Giles-" He began timidly. His time in the colonies amongst this strange group was finally beginning to teach him something. Namely, tread carefully, because pretty much everyone in the room considered him expendable. "I know that right now you are all distracted by sorrow-"

The snort seemed to come from everyone.

"-however, this is not the best place to be experiencing it."

Giles started to pay him slightly more attention while continuing to glare at him.

"I suggest that we adjourn to another place, preferably someone's home. Perhaps the Summers' residence? If we are possibly being targeted by vampires, it makes sense to be somewhere that they can't just waltz in uninvited."

"…that is actually an excellent suggestion." Giles blinked, kicking himself slightly for not thinking of it earlier.

After a quick phone call to the Summers house, accompanied by a brief explanation, Giles and Oz guided Buffy and Willow out of the school while Wesley did the same with Cordelia. Fifteen minutes later they pulled up to find Joyce waiting for them just inside her front door.

Taking the teenage girls upstairs, Giles made them each drink a mild sedative before bedding them down. Buffy and Cordelia curled up facing away from each other on the slayer's bed, while Willow ended up on a camping cot. Oz, refusing to leave her side, simply made himself at home sitting on the floor, covered by a blanket.

Downstairs, Giles was filling in some more details to Joyce while Wesley nervously stayed in the background.

Absorbing the tale in silence, Joyce spent a few minutes dragging her shattered thoughts into some semblance of order. "So, do we have any proof that Xander's been…turned, other than Angel's word." She asked in an uneven voice.

Giles removed his glasses and began polishing the lenses nervously. "Truthfully, no. However, it is not something you joke about, especially to a Slayer." Seeing that they were cleaned to his satisfaction, he put the spectacles back on. "Rest assured that I will be getting the full story out of him tomorrow, one way or another."

Joyce was fighting back tears. She had always had a very soft spot in her heart for Xander, at times thinking of him as the son she would have liked to have had. Considering what she had heard about his home life from the local grapevine, she was always amazed that the young man had turned out as well as he had. In fact, she had often wondered what was going on in the head of that daughter of hers. Buffy had mentioned more than once how he had basically followed her around like a love-sick puppy when they had first shifted here. And about the times he had in one way or another saved her life. After getting to know him a bit better, Joyce had tried subtly to push her daughter in his direction whenever he came up in conversation.

It was doomed to failure, she knew. She remembered what it was like to be young. Safe, loyal and comforting didn't do it for _her_ at that age, either. Still, Joyce had hoped that after the train wreck that was Buffy's relationship with Angel, the girl would realise what was in front of her and give it a chance.

Now it would never happen. All because Buffy's 250 year old Ex had enjoyed role-playing a little too much.

"What happens now. I-I mean, if Xander is…will Buffy have to…" She couldn't force the words out.

"No." Giles stated quietly. "I will not put her through the pain of having to kill a person she loves again. _I_ will do it when the time comes." At the thought of having to stake a boy who was probably the closest to a son he would ever get, Giles lowered his head and began fighting back his own tears.

* * *

_**inside…**_

_The shadows were spreading. _

_On his body, that is. They were already everywhere else. His body was the only place they weren't. _

_He was trying his best to avoid the strikes. Several months of fighting and surviving up against the forces of darkness in Sunnydale had honed his reflexes to a point that most athletes and trained soldiers would be insanely jealous of._

_But the hits kept coming. And where they struck, his body began fading to black. _

_It was a painless process, except for the mental trauma involved._

_The only thing he felt that was in his favour right now was the fact that he was not getting tired. At all._

_So he kept dodging, as best he could. Anything to give him more time._

* * *

**OUTSIDE**

The next day was a blur for the scoobies. None of them went to school. Even Giles phoned in sick.

He was taking a chance there. The Mayor would be very interested in the fact that the small group opposing his Ascension were all taking a sickie at the same time. But there was no way of hiding it. Other than a threat appearing directly in front of them and attacking, they weren't doing anything today.

He had roused Cordelia, Willow and Oz long enough for them to ring home and give some sort of excuse for their whereabouts. He didn't particularly care what reason they gave, as long as it wouldn't come back and bite him on the arse at some future point.

Both Willow and Cordelia surprised him again by agreeing with each other and vetoing his suggestion of ringing Xander's parents to make an excuse for him. Apparently, Tony and Jessica Harris were rarely out of their shared alcoholic haze long enough to notice his absences. It would only bring harm to Xander when he finally went home.

(Giles refrained from reminding them that if Xander went home in his current state, it wasn't _him _that would end up being harmed.)

Buffy was the one worrying the Watcher the most. All she was doing was staring at the ceiling and weeping silently. Joyce had spent a great deal of last night trying to comfort her daughter, but nothing had seemed to get through the haze she had surrounded her mind with. Today Joyce was giving her some space to grieve, and only checking every half an hour or so.

After a filling lunch which he didn't register as having tasted, Giles told Wesley that he was going out for a while, and not to expect him back for a few hours.

"Is this really the time to be leaving those children alone?" The new watcher hissed.

"And you were showing such promise." Giles muttered to himself. Grabbing the younger man roughly by the shoulder, he dragged him out the front door.

Shutting it behind him and checking that none of the others were nearby, Giles leant in and talked in a hushed tone. "As we discussed last night with Joyce, I am going to visit Angel. He is going to explain in greater detail to me _exactly _what happened last night. Depending on his answers, he might just survive until dusk." He growled. "We need to start making contingency plans."

"Ah." Wesley chided himself internally. He should have remembered that. Now that someone who knew the slayer and her group intimately had been turned, they would indeed need to start making plans. Gulping, he squared his shoulders. "I know that you don't think much of me, but do you wish me to come along? As backup. O-or a decoy?"

Giles was surprised_. 'Maybe the little toerag has a spine hiding in there somewhere, after all.' _"No. They need to be protected." He nodded towards the interior of the house. "And you are the only one in any shape right now to fight."

Wesley couldn't help himself. He straightened up to his full height. The thought that this man would trust the safety of those inside the house in his hands was gratifying. Especially considering that the young watcher had not exactly acquitted himself well these past few months. "I won't let you or them down."

"See that you don't." Giles gave him a last hard look before turning and driving off in his car.

After a brief stop at his place for a change of clothes and to gather some supplies, Giles drove out to Angel's manor on the outskirts of town. Pulling up outside, he entered without bothering to hide his approach.

Reaching the cellar, he stepped in to find Angel sitting in the far corner of the room, facing the doorway. The ensouled vampire had time to raise his head and begin to ask about Buffy when the first wooden arrow pierced his shoulder.

"ARGH!" Angel immediately responded to the unexpected attack by pouncing across the room. He had barely made it half way when Giles sprayed him with holy water.

Finally taking the hint, Angel stopped trying to approach the ex-watcher and set about keeping his distance.

"As you might have realised by now, I'm a little peeved with you." Giles said, his native accent becoming noticeable. "I also remember from the last time I came after you not to let you get close to me." He retreated to the other side of the room, keeping the small crossbow pointed at Angel's heart with one hand while brandishing a cross in the other. "Because that's where you like to be when you do what you do so well. Close."

Plucking the arrow out of his shoulder, Angel glanced at it with distaste before casting it aside. "Am I going to get a chance to talk?"

"It's the only reason you're not currently dust." Giles responded coolly. "Start speaking. And leave nothing out."

Angel didn't. He told every detail he could remember, both of the encounter with Xander and the visit from Whistler.

When he was finished, Giles was silent for a moment, contemplating. "Very well. Keep you're distance from us in the near future. If we need your help, I'll contact you." He stated as he turned to leave.

"Wait!" Angel demanded, moving forward. "You can't just put the blame for all of this on to me. You, me and Buffy all worked out the plan to pull the wool over Faith's eyes. We all share responsibility for…GAK!" Angel gurgled as another bolt from the crossbow slammed into his throat.

"I agree. It _was _our plan. Yours, mine and Buffy's." Giles said in a frigid tone. "But, nowhere in that plan was a proviso for you to leave one of us helpless in the streets of this bloody town." He looked on as Angel floundered around trying to remove the arrow as painlessly as possible. "Now, because of your childish dislike of someone over two centuries younger than yourself, the best of us is going to transform into the worst threat we have ever faced. Angelus would be so proud of you right now." He spat, before visibly pulling himself back under control. "Stay away. Or you won't walk away." With that, he left the bleeding vampire to wallow in his mistakes.

* * *

_**inside…**_

_That familiar feeling of gut-wrenching terror was making itself known to Xander again. _

_He was almost completely covered in darkness now. All of his extremities. His lower torso. Parts of his chest. If he crossed his eyes, he could even see that the tip of his nose was going black._

_Most disturbing was the fact that there was no sensation at all involved with the transformation. He felt normal, just with a different colour scheme._

_The good news was that it seemed to have changed as much of him as it was going to. The area around his heart was still glowing. And when he held his hands up in front of him, he could see that his head was glowing as well in the reflection of his palms._

_Very weird._

_But not enough to get him terrified._

_That came from two other sources._

_One was the Xander-shaped shape that was currently stalking him just out of clear view._

_The other was the fact that his remaining colouration was no longer uniform. _

* * *

**OUTSIDE**

Day two of Xander's disappearance found the scoobies beginning to function once again, albeit only on a very basic level.

It was a Saturday, so coming up with an excuse for not being at school was a lot easier. Cordelia, Willow and Oz had returned to their respective homes briefly for a change of clothing, as had Giles and Wesley.

While they were gone, Buffy attempted to plan out in her head what she was going to do about Xander. Unfortunately, every time she attempted to think of what she would have to do once she found him, she went completely blank. Eventually, she had to give it up. She simply could not make herself contemplate staking her Xander-shaped friend, even in the abstract.

By the time Giles had returned, she was back to weeping soundlessly while sitting on the couch. She was clutching Mr. Gordo and Mr. Pointy in her hands, gripping them so hard she was almost shredding them both.

"Why can't I do this, Giles?" She whispered plaintively. "I mean, I've done it before. After Ford was turned trying to barter me to Spike, I staked him. Why is it that this time I can't even think about doing it without shutting down. Why!"

Giles sighed and knelt in front of her. "Because this time, it's not someone you left behind and did not see for years. It's not someone who attempted to betray you for his own gain. This time, it is someone who saved your life on several occasions." He took the emotionally fragile girl's hands in his own. "This time, it is someone who has become special to you." He looked at her pointedly. "And you have had this problem before."

"Angel." She murmured.

"Indeed." The older man nodded. "Which is why this time you will not be dealing with the situation. I will be."

"What?"

"You will assist in gathering the information we need." He stated sternly. "But when we find Xander's body, no matter what state it is in, you will not be a part of dealing with him. It." Giles corrected himself.

As the day wore on, Buffy found that she could not persuade Giles to change his mind. And a small part of her was glad. Glad that she wouldn't have to be the one to do this. To kill her other best friend.

She hated herself for being so weak.

When the others returned, they all made their way to the library. They needed to plan, and they needed information upon which to make that plan. So while the others sat and discussed various ideas, Buffy withdrew into herself again and trained for a bit. Or more accurately, she mindlessly assaulted a punching bag until it was time to head to Willy's bar. _Anything _to stop herself of thinking about the near future.

* * *

_**Inside…**_

"_So are you going to come out and talk, or are you just gonna hide back there and watch me from afar like a perv?" Xander had gotten sick of the oddly-familiar shape hanging back just out of sight. Yes, he was still scared. But enough was enough. And in his experience, the best way to get something to come for you was to taunt it. This situation had been going on for far too long, he felt. So it was time to start provoking a response._

_While Xander had always felt that he was not good at much in this life, he was a __master__ at provoking things beyond their upper limits of endurance._

"_**Why…Why are you not more fearful?" **__Came a whispery reply._

"_Oohhh, it talks! And here I thought you were gonna mute me into submission." He grinned. Now we're cooking with gas. First questions. Then the threats. And all the while, information will flow in his direction. _

"_**How are you doing this?"**_

"_A question that has plagued even my closest friends for a good many years." Xander retorted cheerfully. "I put it down to clean living mixed with dirty thoughts, aided and abetted by the sweet purity of that holiest of snack food, Twinkies. It's usually followed by, 'Does he ever shut up?'"_

"_**Do you?" **_

_Xander swore that he could hear a hint of annoyance. He smirked. "Very rarely."_

"_**When I absorb you, I hope that changes."**_

"_Awuh? Run that by me again."_

"_**Have you not figured this out yet?" **__Xander could almost hear the cruel grin. __**"What is happening to you?"**_

"_Sorta." The teen allowed. "This stuff was a dead giveaway, if you'll pardon the bad pun." Xander indicated the swirling darkness with a hand. "Kinda looks like a vampire after it's met the business end of a stake, doesn't it." He sighed heavily. "I'm guessing that when captain forehead decked me, I was taken and turned. And all this here is a part of the process of changing me."_

_**"…"**_

_Xander pressed on. "But what I don't get, is why am I still here? Why am I still conscious? I thought that my soul was squeezed out and replaced by a demon's. Why am I still in residence?"_

_The voice grinned again. __**"Because the memories of what you were have to come from somewhere."**_

"_Damn. And here I thought it would just be Xeroxed." Xander sighed. "So, why's it taking so long?" _

"_**You." **_

_The Scooby let out a confused, "huh?" _

"_**Something about you is impeding the process." **__The voice growled impatiently. __**"Normally, what was human about you has been consumed long before now, by what I represent."**_

"_Again, Huh!"_

_The shape growled again. __**"When a human is taken and turned by a vampire, the magic contained within the blood invades and consumes its new host totally. Within three days, the process is completed. For some reason, something about you is slowing the process down."**__ Xander could see the vague shape shaking it's head in frustration. __**"But now, it is time to complete this. Whatever it is about you that is hindering the great change, I will learn of it when I drink your remaining soul directly into myself." **__The shape began to move closer. __**"You will become me, and I will step into my new existence. Now."**_

"_Impatient much?" Xander quipped as he backed away from what had been stalking him. Suddenly, the swirling, ash-like mist that had been hiding the other from his view parted. And Xander finally got his first look at his stalker._

_It was Him. Him as he would look when showing his game face. The only thought that ran through his head as the demon lunged forward and latched onto his neck to begin draining the rest of his essence was; _

'_Ah crap! Even as a vampire I look like a dork!' _

* * *

**OUTSIDE**

Willy was nervous.

Or rather, Willy was more nervous than usual.

To be completely honest with himself, Willy was wondering if he could slip out the back and put on some adult diapers without any of his customers noticing.

It was a Saturday night, and one of his favourite regulars was nowhere in sight. It was a bad sign, mostly because this particular patron possessed a touch of foresight within it's leathery hide. Having a demon like that hanging around made for a semi-reliable early warning system. Willy made sure that this demon stayed a regular by not watering down it's drinks, and making sure that it's favourite snacks were always available. (Luckily, Willy knew a guy who could supply Chihuahua puppies cheap.) The only other times it had stayed away was when the Slayer had been on a lethal rampage.

Willy remembered those times. Both of them. Each time had involved a quick trip through the Sunnydale public hospital system for the bartender. He cringed, both physically and mentally. Considering the information he was going to impart when she called on him later, he knew that this particular visit from the Slayer was one that he might not survive.

Some of his other regulars noticed the absence of the pre-cog upon walking in, and immediately turned around and walked right back out. Willy didn't blame them. If he could, he'd be heading out the door right behind them. Unfortunately, he had a business to run. That, and if he wasn't there when the Slayer came in, she'd merely spend the rest of the night hunting him down, all the while getting angrier and more frustrated. At least this way, he had a ghost of a chance.

At about a quarter to eleven, Buffy the Vampire Slayer walked quietly into Willy's bar.

'_Oh crap!' _He whined internally. She had walked in. Not kicked the door off it's hinges. No booming announcement of her presence. She simply slipped inside and sat down at the bar. All nice and quiet and normal. Except…

The aura radiating off her was such that a good percentage of his patrons had wet themselves upon her entrance. They didn't run though. That would have meant drawing her attention to themselves. And right now, _no-one _wanted to give her a chance to vent her inner turmoil upon them.

"H-Hey, slay-gal." Willy stammered as he stood in front of her. She was vibrating. It was the only way he could describe what she was doing right now. He had heard of the phrase 'restrained violence' before, but until that moment, he had never seen it personified.

Buffy looked up at him. He almost wanted to reach out and give her a reassuring hug when he saw the desolate expression on her face as her tears ran silently down her cheeks. "Willy. Tell me what I need to know, and then I'll leave." Her chin quivered slightly as she spoke. "Please."

Willy had always planned to give up what she wanted to hear even before she had arrived. But now he was eager to tell her everything. Anything to help get that look of utter anguish on her face away from him.

"Your friend is down in an old storage shed by the docks. Here's the address." He slid the note hastily written on the back of a coaster to her. "He was taken by a group that had been quietly spying on you and your friends for a while. There's maybe two dozen of them, made up of the stragglers from the various vampire gangs that have blown through town the last couple of years. Their not with the Mayor, as far as I know. And they are led by a Triumvirate."

"A whatsit?" Buffy interrupted.

"Uh, there's three leaders."

"Like a Trinity?"

"Sorta, but they prefer Triumvirate. Trinity has holy connotations." Willy squirmed and shrugged at the spark of curiosity in Buffy's eyes. "I've got a BA in Ancient History and Classical Literature at home, okay. It helps with some of my older customers when they start talking about 'the good old days'."

Buffy blinked away the nugget of knowledge, trying to get back on track. "Anything else?"

"Uh, the one to watch out for is a master vamp called Elizabeth Winters. From what I've heard, she's the one that was interested in your friend the most."

The slayer waited to see if anything else was forthcoming.

Willy shrugged again nervously. "That's all I got kiddo."

Nodding, Buffy slid a C-note across the bar towards him and turned to leave. "Thanks."

Willy looked from the money to the slayers' back. Before he could stop himself, he spoke. "Slayer… Buffy." She stopped, but did not turn. "Help him rest in peace. He don't deserve this."

At that, she turned and stared at him. Holding his eyes in hers, she saw the ghost of the person Willy used to be, before he started making a living off the dead and demonic. "None of us do. But…thank you. I will." She said softly, before striding out the door.

When her footsteps had faded from even the keenest ears, a mighty breath was let out. It sounded like the whole bar had deflated at once.

Willy poured himself a triple scotch and drained it with trembling hands. "Holy crap!" Ignoring the glares he got from his customers for uttering that divine profanity, Willy drained two more shots before he felt calm enough to resume tending his bar. Having so many witnesses to him giving up valuable information to the Slayer without a struggle would hurt business for a while, but he knew demons. Within a couple of weeks there would be an upswing in patronage again. And the drinking, along with the inevitable boasting that went with it, would start anew. He would survive.

* * *

_**inside…**_

_The demon drank Xander's soul into itself, not stopping until all that it was holding was an empty husk._

_With a final lick, the demon let the husk fall away from him to the floor. Looking down at it as it disintegrated, the demon wondered what was supposed to happen now. Despite its knowledge of what was supposed to happen during the turning, it had no real idea of what awaited it, out there in the world. All it knew was that now that it had been created/separated from the gestalt vampire essence, it had to…no, __needed__ to feed to survive. Everything else came from its new host. It could feel the boy's essence flowing through its new body, flooding its veins and filling in the mental gaps it needed to survive in the world outside._

_Suddenly, it was forced to its knees by pain._

_Pain. Everywhere. Inside and outside._

"_**Is…is this what's supposed to happen? Is this a part of readying me for out there?" **__It asked through gritted teeth. To whom it was talking, and whether it was expecting an answer was forever lost as another wave of pain wracked its body. _

_Curling itself into a tight ball, it whimpered as it tried to ride out the agonising sensations flooding its new body as best it could. _

* * *

**OUTSIDE**

Day Three of Xander's disappearance marked the beginning of some proactive preparation on the part of the scoobies.

After leaving Willy's bar, Buffy had gone to the address she had been given. Her original thought had been to charge in and start hacking away. Unfortunately, her reconnaissance had thoroughly put paid to that idea.

The number of vampires there was actually closer to three dozen. She observed that they seemed to be a mish-mash of several groups she had fought over the past two years or so. Some were surviving vamps from Angelus' and Spike's forays into being Sunnydale's resident Big Bad. Others were remnants of Kakistos' gang. A few even seemed to be leftovers from that vampire order that had hunted her recently. It was very odd to see such a disparate bunch getting along together.

For the most part. Buffy saw that the vampires seemed to be holding to their original groupings, with very few of them willing to mingle. _'Damn. That trio of master vamps must be pretty strong to hold this lot together in the one place without fights breaking out all the time.' _She thought glumly to herself.

Shifting from her spot on the roof, she tip-toed over to another window and peeked inside. What she saw made her whimper.

Xander.

He was laid out on a Queen-sized bed. The clothes he had been wearing the other day had been removed, and he was now clad in black from head to toe, with a leather trench coat over the top. Much like Angel. _'Man, he's gonna flip when he see's how they've dressed him.' _Buffy thought whimsically as she observed an older-looking vampire woman checking on him carefully as he lay curled up in a ball. Her expression was tense, as if…as if she was actually _worried _about the teen before her.

Suddenly, the vampire stiffened, then looked up. Right in Buffy's general direction. _'No way in __**hell **__did she just spot me!' _Buffy thought as she pulled back out of view. Cautiously peeking back inside, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the vampire had gone back to tending Xander.

Putting aside the odd behaviour, Buffy decided that there were too many for her to handle alone. That thought actually made her pause. Normally, even with 30-to-1 odds she'd be running scenarios through her head, figuring the angles. Whether it was because of what had happened to Xander when _he _was alone, or simply because she didn't want to screw up something so important by being her normal impulsive self, she honestly didn't know right now. But for this mission she was going in with the scoobies watching her back. No-one else was going to die because she felt like being Super-Slay-Gal.

So she made her way back to Giles' place, wondering how they were going to handle this without their main ideas guy throwing his unique brand of planning into the mix.

And after _that _thought, she spent the rest of the walk back once again trying to hold in fresh tears.

* * *

They finally decided upon a scorched earth policy just after dark on Sunday. The storage shed was in a secluded corner of the docks, so the chance of the fire spreading to any of the other buildings was greatly reduced. Luck was with them further when they found out that the building possessed no sewer access. It wasn't subtle, or even original. But it would get the job done without risking their own lives unnecessarily against so many vampires.

Both Willow and Cordelia had gotten a brief, sad chuckle out of Buffy's description of Xander's new attire. And both Giles and Wesley had frowned at the vampire name Willy had provided her with.

Elizabeth Winters had been a part of Kakistos' group. In fact, she was next in charge after Mr. Trick. Why she hadn't gone to work for the Mayor was a mystery for another time. Preferably, after she was dust in the wind.

Willow and Giles had found a spell that would encircle the building with fire for a short time. The plan was that Buffy and Angel would start throwing Molotov cocktails through the skylights to distract the vampires within while the others surrounded the area with the line of powder needed to contain and guide the fiery wall. When it was completed, one of those two on the roof would make sure to shoot Xander through the heart with a bolt from a crossbow, before withdrawing from the roof so the spell could be activated.

Despite the general feeling of loathing being directed in the ensouled vampires direction by the Scoobies, Giles had demanded that Angel be the one to take the shot instead of Buffy. While she had quickly nodded in agreement at the time without argument, Angel knew that events might not play out that way.

After that, all they would need to do was check the burnt remains to see if they got them all. Simple.

Or so they had wished.

* * *

"They know we're here." Angel growled. He had been informed of the plan earlier that night by Giles. When he had met up with the scoobies after dark, they had ignored him almost completely. Even Buffy could barely bring herself to look at him. And when she did, it was with a heavy dose of disgust and betrayal. _'I guess Giles told them about our conversation.' _Angel was wise enough to not attempt to justify his actions from that night. They probably would have staked him out on top of a church to watch the sunrise if he had tried. So he kept quiet, and remained a short distance away from the others as they made their way to the docks.

The first thing that raised his hackles was the fact that no guards had been posted around the building. Even a complete novice would have put _someone _outside to keep an eye on things. And from what Buffy had described, this bunch was made up of some fairly old vampires.

The next thing that worried him was that there seemed to be a severely reduced number of vamps milling around inside. And the ones that were there were tense. As if they were waiting for something. Like them.

"I agree." Buffy said tersely from her position next to him on the roof. The whole situation screamed, **'****TRAP!****' **to her as well. "But, tonight's the night Xander…comes back." She choked slightly. "I don't want him going through this. One way or another, We're doing this tonight."

Angel nodded in agreement. "Stay here. I'm going back to let the others know the situation." He whispered as he stole away silently.

He arrived back at where the others were hiding out just in time to see fifteen vampires appear from the shadows. "GET THEM!" The leader roared.

Without a word, Angel pulled two stakes from within his jacket and leapt towards the nearest vampire.

* * *

"GET THEM!"

Buffy heard this from behind her and padded over to the edge of the roof. Looking down, she saw Angel dust the vampire nearest him and move on to the next one. Giles, Wesley, Cordelia and Oz were firing bolts as fast as they could reload, while Willow was chanting something. By her count, at least five vamps were dusted already. The other ten were beginning to encircle the group slowly just as Willow's eyes flashed and a shield ignited along the trail of powder spread around the scoobies. She faintly heard her friend say to Giles that she didn't know how long it would last, but that they were safe for now.

'_Guess it's up to me to give them a distraction.' _Going back to the skylight she had been crouched beside earlier, she reached into a large bag and grabbed a few molotov cocktails from within. Uncapping the bottles, she stuffed cloth wicks in them and made her way back to the edge. Lighting two, she shouted "HEY!" just as she threw them in to the centre of the vampire group.

They had enough time to realise that someone was behind them before they were set alight by the flaming liquid.

With the element of surprise gone on both sides, things slid from bad to worse.

After taking out the vampires that had survived Buffy's aerial bombardment, the scoobies quickly abandoned their original idea of circling the whole building with the powder and settled for blocking all the doors and windows they could find instead. It wasn't a perfect containment, but it would have to do.

Inside, the vampire masters were hurriedly trying to direct their forces to defend against this unexpected reversal of their own plan. Well, two of them were. Elizabeth Winters elected to order her forces to withdraw from the battle. She had plans of her own for them, and wasting their undead existence's in a futile fight against the Slayer & Co. was not a part of it. So when Buffy turned her attention back inside, fully half of the remaining vamps had disappeared out the back door.

Buffy counted about eleven vampires left inside, not including the three Masters. _'Doable.' _She told herself as she began thinning them out with her crossbow.

'_Oh yeah! Death from above.' _She quipped to herself as she ran out of ammo. Now there were only four vampires remaining, with two Masters.

Throwing all of her remaining Molotov cocktails in, she leapt in after them. Landing lightly on her feet, she noted that she had scored another two vamps. Of the four remaining, one of them, the female from the previous night who had been tending Xander, sprinted towards the next room. The other three turned on her.

The first one to reach her, a fledgling, fell almost immediately to a stake in the heart. The other two slowed up and began circling her cautiously.

"Reckless, Slayer. Very reckless." The one she assumed to be the remaining Master hissed.

"Not from where I'm standing." Buffy threw back. "You started out the night with about thirty-odd vamps. Now all you've got is him." She pointed a thumb over her shoulder, before stepping to the side and latching on to one of the hands that had been grasping for her.

Spinning around and pulling forward, she planted her left knee into its chest twice while twisting the arm she had grabbed, snapping the forearm. Releasing it, the slayer whirled around on her heel and kicked it away from her and across the flaming room. The vamp landed in a pool of burning fluid and proceeded to scream piercingly as it burnt.

Buffy ignored the sounds as she refocussed on the master vampire as it sought to take advantage of her momentary distraction. Punches and kicks were traded without mercy as they fought. Finally, the vampire seemed to get in a lucky strike that dropped Buffy to the ground, dazed.

Taking advantage of the situation, it pounced on her. Buffy managed to get her hands up to block a flurry of blows directed at her head. Eventually, she managed to grab both of its wrists and hold it steady.

"Doesn't matter, Slayer." The master vampire taunted as it switched to it's game face and began leaning in towards her neck. "Soon, it will all be over."

Buffy smirked as she looked over its shoulder. "Got that right, bucky."

"Huh?" It pulled back, just in time to run into the stake Giles was in the process of ramming into it's back. "_NOOOOO!_" It cried with rage as it turned into dust.

"Are you alright." Giles asked as he put out a hand to help his slayer to her feet.

"Not yet." She grunted. "He's in there with the last vampire." Picking up a stake, she started over. Giles followed behind.

* * *

Elizabeth Winters was a study of indecision. It was not the done thing to move a vampire in the process of being turned.

There was no real reason for that belief. It was merely a superstition amongst vampires that to do so was to invite trouble into the turning process. However, since the sounds of fighting had ceased in the next room, she decided to take the chance. Better to have problems later than be dust now. Besides, at least half of the building was now thoroughly alight due to the blonde Slayer's efforts. Staying any longer would mean an end to both their existences.

She had just gathered Xander up in her arms when the door burst open and a very pissed off looking Slayer stalked into the room.

"Put him down _now!_" Buffy demanded.

Elizabeth chuckled. "Not likely, my dear. I have gone to a great deal of trouble in getting him this far. I will not be thwarted just when my planning is about to pay off."

Determined to give her friend the peace he deserved in the afterlife, Buffy started forward.

"Ah-ah, Slayer. No closer please." Elizabeth stated as she turned slightly to reveal the pistol she possessed.

Buffy froze. _'Since when do vampires use guns?' _She thought, before belatedly remembering that time in the Bronze with Darla soon after she first arrived in Sunnydale.

"Now, I have no real desire to kill you right at this moment, Slayer." Ignoring the snort of disbelief, Elizabeth continued speaking, "You are putting some very large wrenches into the plans of the Mayor. I approve of this wholeheartedly. His plans for this town, indeed this planet, do not mesh with mine." She smiled. "I like things the way they are right now. Plus, if you die, another slayer will be called, and I rather enjoy having a positive I.D. on the current ones too much for that to change." Her expression hardened. "So, here's what is going to happen. I am leaving. I am taking Alexander with me. You will not impede my way, or we will all die." She gestured to Giles with the gun to emphasise her point. "Are we clear?"

Before Buffy could answer, Xander began screaming in Elizabeth's arms.

* * *

**OUTSIDE/**_**inside…**_

_Finally, the pain had reached a level where the fledgling vampire could no longer suffer it silently. He screamed. Loudly. He began spasming wildly, bucking his body out of whatever had been holding him._

_Slamming into the floor, the shock of that sensation from outside himself actually helped him to bring his pain under control. _

_Whimpering, he scuttled away from the panicked voices that were intruding on his pain. He flinched when something cool touched his body, and he lashed out wildly at whatever it was._

_Slamming into something firm, he braced himself against it and slowly made his way to his feet. Leaning heavily against it, he breathed deeply. Something within him said that this was very wrong. Another part felt that it was entirely natural._

_Gaining strength with every breath, he finally straightened up. Running his hands over himself quickly, he was satisfied that everything was where it was supposed to be. His face felt…odd, though. It was something that could wait. Opening his eyes for the first time in this new existence of his, he turned and faced the three other people in the room._

_Seeing them all take a step back in shock, he grinned._

"Well, this is different."

* * *

Notes: This is probably going to be the longest chapter I'll write for a while. Most of them will float around the two and a half- to four thousand word mark, depending on my inspiration.

Oh, and that last bit, about another Slayer being called if Buffy carked it? I figure that Vampires would not know whether or not it would happen if she died. Or wish to take the chance.

And no shit over whether Vampires breathe or not. If they talk, they breathe.

Next Chapter: Where was Faith during all this?


	3. Chapter 2

BAD XANDER

By: Tezza1502

Disclaimer: It's not mine! (Just in case you missed the last two disclaimers.)

Notes: This one starts off from the perspective of the _other _witness to Xander's knockout…

* * *

CHAPTER 2:- A brand new night.

_**Mayor's office. Day two of Xander's disappearance…**_

"Ah Faith. Come in. Come in." Mayor Richard Wilkins the Third gestured warmly to the young woman who had just entered his office at City Hall.

"Hey Boss. What's what?" The teen called Faith replied as she plopped herself into the chair in front of the Mayor's desk. She was not much older than 16, with dark, wavy hair that fell haphazardly below her shoulders. Wearing faded jeans, a black Tee-shirt with a denim jacket slung over one shoulder, she looked like any of the teenagers you would find hanging around a mall in Sunnydale. What made her stand out was her demeanour.

She was constantly tense, as if expecting an attack at any moment. Her eyes constantly flicked around the room, taking in whatever was nearby. Judging. Calculating. Determining what was a threat, and what could be taken advantage of. She carried herself like a predator. Which, in a way, she was.

When the Slayer line had been sundered, she had been the second called to this new line, after Kendra was killed. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, she had turned dark. Now, she worked for the Mayor, who was attempting to Ascend, to become a full demon.

"I'm not quite sure how you will take what I am about to tell you, Faith." The Mayor looked unsure of himself.

"oookay." This spooked Faith somewhat, as in the short time she had known him, the one thing the Mayor had never been was unsure. You don't work for over a hundred years towards a goal by being filled with self-doubt. "I'm not being fired or anything, am I?"

"No. Not at all." The Mayor waved a dismissive hand at her as he perched himself on the corner of his desk nearest her. "Perish the thought, Firecracker. It's just…" He looked at her sympathetically. Despite the fact that those kids were attempting to get the way of his destiny, they had been the first friends his Faith had made when she had come to his town. And it was always sad when someone that young died, for _whatever _reason.

He sighed. "I know that you're still a little annoyed with your former friends over how they tricked you the other night, but do you remember that young man that was friends with the young Miss Summers? I believe his name was Alexander Harris."

Faith nodded slowly. "Uh…Xander? Yeah, I remember him. B has him wrapped round her little finger. I swear, all she has to do is bat an eyelash, and he'd be there." She chuckled. "Not too bad in the sack either, for a first timer."

"Ah. Well. I hope that you weren't too attached to him, Faith." He raised an eyebrow at her last remark. His Faith was a nice girl. She didn't need to indulge herself like that.

"How so?"

He sighed internally. "According to my contacts, he was turned within the last forty-eight hours."

Faith felt all the warmth get sucked out of her body suddenly. "What?" _'Xander was what?'_

"How the fuck did that happen?" she shouted. "Waitaminute…_two _night's ago?" The Mayor nodded, letting her work it out herself. "Y'know, that dick, Angel and I ran into him when we were coming to see you that night. The big guy punched X out on sight. Are you saying-"

"Yes, Faith." He nodded again. "When Angel knocked him out and left him by the roadside, some vampires, who don't work for me I might add, picked him up."

Faith slumped back into her chair, not knowing _what _to think. He was a goofy, overeager nice guy. A bit too friendly to the people around him. Trusting to a fault. And he'd tried to be her friend, before and after _that _night.

'_Oh fuck, I killed him!' _She shuddered at the thought of having yet _another _human's blood on her hands. Someone she had known. They'd fought back-to-back on occasion. He'd even saved her life, once. Someone who had almost been…a friend.

She looked up sharply. "Who was it?" She demanded.

Richard Wilkins was startled by his charges sudden change in demeanour. "Why?"

"Because I want to put him out of his misery. To do that, I need to know who did it and where I can find them." She replied.

He leant back a little, pondering. "And why would you do that, Faithy? Now that he's evil, he'll keep that little blond Slayer and her remaining friends off-balance. And, I might add, not focusing on me." He gestured at his chest with both hands to emphasise his point.

To his great surprise, Faith dropped her head to hide the slight blush he was sure had started to form on her face at his question. "Because…because Xander was never mean to me while I was hanging out with the Scoobs, y'know? He always tried to be my friend. I kinda owe him. And…he hated Vamps. I think he'd like to know that someone would take him out, now that it's happened to him." She shrugged shyly.

Richard weighed up the pro's and con's of letting Faith have her way in this. Sure, having a vampire running around that knows his current enemies inside and out would be extremely helpful in the short term. He might even be useful later on, after the Ascension.

However, by letting Faith do this, she finally be cutting all ties with her recent past, giving her some closure. Plus, it will bind her more closely to him. And, well, he always _has _tried to indulge a reasonable request from the various women he's had in his life. _'I guess I'm just a big softy.' _He sighed internally.

"Very well, Faith. I will have a name and location for you by this time tomorrow. Fair enough?"

Faith smiled weakly. "Thanks boss."

* * *

The next night found Faith down at the docks, watching the Scoobies making their way towards the address she had gotten from her boss that afternoon. She had hoped that they might distract the vamps long enough for her to complete her self-appointed mission. But it seems that at least one of the undead inside was smart enough to realise that you don't mess with the Slayer's buds without expecting repercussions.

Perched on a rooftop at a safe distance, she had been surprised to see Angel walking with them. She thought that at least one of the Scoobs would have staked him on sight, considering his role in the current mess. _'Gives me hope, at least.' _She mused as she watched both sides attempt their respective ambushes, and the flaming aftermath. _'Damn, B! Way to be subtle.' _She thought to herself as she watched her sister Slayer drop fiery death from the roof top, before the blonde made her way back to a particular skylight. After throwing some more Molotov cocktails in, followed by several arrows, she dropped in.

Chewing her bottom lip in indecision, Faith eventually decided to hang back_. 'If B can get to him, more power to her.' _was the dark slayer's uncommonly gracious thought. With the two of them in there, it was highly likely that they'd get distracted beating the crap out of each other instead of taking care of business. So, she settled back on her haunches and watched the rest of the Scoobies take out the vamps outside.

It didn't take long. With the apparent leader dusted by Angel within the first few minutes, the rest of them were put out of their misery in short order. In fact other than Angel, the Scoobies came through the fight with barely a scratch on any of them. Mainly because they had been sensible enough to stay behind the fiery barrier they had erected and shoot arrows through it.

With the last vamp gone, they extinguished it and at Giles direction began sealing up all the doorways and windows they could find with the same spell they had used to protect themselves. Giles himself entered the burning warehouse to provide backup for his Slayer.

With the excitement at the front of the building finished, Faith shifted her position so that she could watch the back instead. That end was not yet aflame, so someone or something could still make a break for it. Eventually, something did. And Faith was left to wonder what the heck was going on in there as two bodies exited the shed violently, one a few minutes after the other.

* * *

"Well, this is different."

Buffy gasped loudly and took a horrified step back as the face of her best male friend distorted into its new demonic visage. She was not alone in her reaction. Giles let out a whispered _"Dear Lord!" _as he shifted the cross clutched in his hand up between himself and the other two.

The vampire Elizabeth Winters let out a smirk at their reactions as she turned for her own first look at her newly risen _Childe_. When she did, she swallowed her own gasp.

Xander was not looking quite like a vampire should.

His forehead possessed the tell-tale ridges of a vampire, true. But they were far more pronounced. His teeth had changed into fangs. _All _of them. His facial hair was heavier, while the rest of his features were sharpened. His tall frame seemed to have spontaneously gained several kilograms, most of it muscle mass. And his eyes were glowing a soft green.

"Buffy." Everyone else in the room snapped to attention at the sound of his gravely voice. "Giles." He said again, looking in the watcher's direction. "Who are you?" He asked as his gaze fell upon the master vampire now standing cautiously next to him.

Shaking off her surprise at his appearance, she answered. "Elizabeth Winters. And you are my _Childe, _Alexander Harris." She added before Xander could ask.

"…you turned me?" He enquired after a moments hesitation. Looking down, he grimaced at his new attire. "You dressed me like this?"

"Yes I did. And I have such wonderful plans for you, dear boy." Elizabeth smiled kindly.

His hands clenched tightly into fists. "_**Bitch!**_"

Before anyone could think to react, he snarled and backhanded the master vampire across the warehouse. Her body flew high into the air and through a wall on the far side.

"Xander?" Buffy started forward in shock, before another snarl brought her up short. The sound changed into a high-pitched, hitching laugh. _'Oh God, he sounds like…' _The blonde slayer let that thought go right there. It was too horrible an idea to contemplate just at this moment.

Shoulders slumping, he dropped to his knees. "So, Buff, was this part of some weird plan to get me off the streets permanently?" Xander challenged her between tortured sobs. Seeing her attempt to reach out for him, he snarled at her once more to keep her distance. "Are you happy now? I'm finally _completely _out of the loop! No more slaying for the Zeppo!" He barked cruelly as his tears fell.

"Oh Xander, this wasn't supposed to happen. We needed you in the dark so that if you ran into Faith she wouldn't suspect that we were on to her." Buffy babbled, desperately trying to explain herself. "Angel wasn't supposed to knock you out and leave you." While she talked, she moved discretely away from Giles' side.

"Hah!" Xander laughed and shuddered. "You honestly thought that that bastard would give a shit about me? That I'm not capable of keeping a secret or faking a reaction? You're blonder than I thought!" Suddenly, Xander felt the coarse hair around his neck bristle. "Huh?" He looked up suddenly and understood what was happening in front of him. "Oh you have _got _to be _fucking __**kidding **_me!" He growled. Bouncing to his feet, he backed away quickly from the other two while going into a low crouch. "Captain Hairgel gets months of second chances, with accompanying body count, while I get stabbed in the back straight off!" He spat.

"Xander, _please!_"Buffy tried to plead with him. "The real you always hated vamps. He would have never wanted to be turned." She pulled a stake out from her belt while she advanced on him slowly. "I'm doing him a favour."

Still moving backwards, he kept both watcher and Slayer in his sights. "I wonder if you'd be hesitating now if we'd ever slept together?" He asked cruelly. Seeing her flinch, he ventured another barb, "Hey! Now that I'm room temperature, does that mean I've finally got a shot with you?"

With a sound somewhere between a sob and a snarl, Buffy launched herself at the newly-minted vampire. Crossing the distance between them in a blink, she landed an uppercut that knocked him on his back.

Twisting sideways away from her follow up thrust with Mr. Pointy, Xander rolled onto all fours. Seeing her go into a spin-kick, he blocked the foot headed for his head while grabbing her calf and bracing himself. Standing up, he lifted her leg with him and pulled Buffy off balance by hoisting and throwing her away from him. He followed her trajectory for a second before remembering the other combatant in the room. Raising his hand to cover his heart, he painfully intercepted the arrow Giles had launched at him while he was distracted.

"No bad, G-man. Nearly got me with that." He grimaced as he pulled the bolt arrowhead first out the other side of his palm. "Here, recycle it!" He suggested as he threw it at the older man's head.

While Giles ducked, and with Buffy still recovering from being thrown across the room, Xander leapt for the rafters. Not knowing his new limits, he overshot his intended mark. "OW!" He yelled as he smacked his head on the roof, before settling onto a cross beam. "Damn, not as smooth or as cool-looking as I would have liked, but hey, pretty sweet for a first attempt." He shouted down. "Ah well, places to go, people to meet. Or eat. Or whatever." He shrugged. "Later!" With a last wave, Xander sprang through a skylight and leapt away into the night.

* * *

Faith saw that the first person who had been ejected from the warehouse had recovered from their impromptu flight far too quickly to be considered normal. _'Vamp then.' _she surmised, accurately as it turned out. Although she became confused when the expression the vampire woman was wearing as she straightened herself out and looked back from where she had come out was not one of anger, but of worry.

Faith quickly put her confusion aside a minute later when a second figure leapt through a previously unbroken skylight. _'Whatinthefuck? Xander!' _She gasped internally as she caught sight of her former one-night-stand's new face as he landed on the edge of the roof, trying desperately to recapture his balance. "Damn, they make this look so easy in the movies." She heard him mutter to himself.

Finally righting himself, he looked around to get his bearings. Spotting the vampire standing below him, he snarled and stepped off the roof towards her.

'_No fucking way did he just drop three storeys and keep walking like it was nothing!' _Faith was shocked. Most freshly turned fledglings would have snapped both ankles trying a stunt like that. Even normal vamps would have stumbled and hurt themselves somewhat. Xander barely broke his stride.

"_**You!**_" He yelled as he pointed at the vampire. "Why the hell did you do this to me?" Reaching her, he took a wild swing at her face with his fist.

Elizabeth stepped inside the swing and slammed her own fist into his solar plexus, hard. When he staggered backwards from the force of the blow, she grabbed his head and brought her knee up into his face.

"_Unnff!_" He grunted as his head snapped back and he fell over backwards, landing on his arse.

"This is neither the time nor place for this conversation, Alexander." She looked down at him with a neutral expression, before offering him a hand.

Xander looked up at her. "If you say 'come with me if you want to live', I'll fucking stake you!" He snarled as he got to his feet under his own power. Swatting her hand away, he started circling her slowly.

"Might I remind you that your former comrades are still nearby, and will have no hesitation with staking _you _at this moment." She retorted impatiently as she spun slowly on a heel, making sure to face him at all times.

"Why the hell did you do this to me!" He demanded again, ignoring her. "Why couldn't you have just killed me, and be done with it?" His voice cracked towards the end of that sentence.

"Because you possess so much potential, Alexander." Elizabeth answered gently, surprising him. "You could do so much more. _Be _so much more than what your 'friends' could ever realise." Raising her hand again, she reached out to him. "I merely changed you into something that could better capitalise on that potential."

Xander cringed at her words and drew away from her. "You turned me into a fucking _leech_! How's _that _supposed to help me?" He screamed.

"I took away your fear." She replied simply. "Without that, you are free to be everything that you can possibly be."

"You're completely insane." Xander whispered in horror as he resumed backing away from the master vampire.

"Alexander, please-"

"Don't _call _me that! And get _away _from me!" Xander increased his speed.

"You won't last the night without me to guide you through your new changes."

"I DON'T WANT TO!" With that, he turned and fled into the smoky night.

Elizabeth dropped her hand to her side and again and stared at the point where her _childe _had vanished. "Damnit." She sighed. Turning, she looked to where Faith was still perched and watching. "Stay away from him, Slayer. He is mine, now." She warned.

Faith nearly over balanced with surprise at being addressed, before retorting, "He was mine first, an' I'll do whatever I want with him, bitch!"

They glared at each other while the glow from the burning shed washed over them both, before retreating in different directions at the sounds of approaching footsteps.

* * *

"Buffy, wait!" Giles called out as his charge finally shook off the shock of being manhandled by Xander and ran out of the building. _'Damnit, and I thought that she was finally getting over her impulsiveness.' _Putting that thought aside, the watcher followed his slayer as best he could through the burning warehouse.

Kicking open a side door, Buffy burst out into the night and headed for the rear of the building. Giles found her standing there a few minutes later. "He was here. Xander was standing _right here!_" She shouted in frustration. "So was that vamp. And…" Buffy sniffed the night air delicately, "I-I think Faith was here somewhere, too."

"What?" Rupert was surprised. While Slayers possessed greatly enhanced senses, Buffy had never really seemed interested in exploring or practicing with any of them beyond her advanced speed and strength. And his attempts to drill her on their uses usually ended up with him getting hurt somehow. "Are…are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. I just caught a whiff of her." Buffy frowned. What was she doing here? How had she found out about what had happened to Xander? Was she here to try and recruit him for the Mayor, or something else?

"Can you track him?" Giles asked gently. "Or any of them?"

"I-I-" Buffy looked up at him helplessly. She wanted to say yes, but this whole situation was rapidly becoming too big for her to do her usual 'Me Slayer, Me Can Do Anything,' routine. But saying no would mean her indirectly admitting that she hasn't been training with her slayer abilities to their fullest extent.

Seeing that his slayer was about to shut down mentally over such a simple question, Giles put an arm around her shoulders and began guiding her back towards the others. "I think we should perhaps regroup and begin planning our next step instead. None of us are in any fit state to be dealing with this situation now, and we will need all our wits about us to deal with Xander."

"Oh God Giles, what are we gonna do?" Buffy barked out between sobs.

'_I don't know.' _He thought to himself silently as they approached the rest of their group_. 'I just do not know.'_

* * *

Next up: Where does Xander go?


	4. Chapter 3

BAD XANDER

By: Tezza1502

Disclaimer: It's not mine! (Just so we're clear.)

Notes: Xander's (mostly) vampire instincts start to emerge. It gets a bit bloody...

* * *

CHAPTER 3:- Hunger/That little red-haired girl.

Xander ran through the deserted streets of his home town.

'_That Goddamn bitch! How dare she do this to me!' _As he ran, he did something he thought he had forgotten how to do a long time ago. He wept openly. _'Typical bloody Harris luck. I can't even die right. Nooooo! I've got to be a crazy demon lady magnet right to the bitter end. And beyond.' _Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, he ignored the bloody smears he was leaving on his face and clothes. _'"Potential?" Potential, my hairy ass! What the fuck could a __**vamp **__see in me that everyone __else__ in my life couldn't?' _

"The potential for you to be great, A…Xander." Came a reply to what he thought had been his inner thoughts. "The potential to lead. The potential to make hard choices, regardless of the cost to yourself. And the willingness to go as far as you need to, to get the task done." Xander's sire emerged from a convenient shadow and approached him cautiously. She did not want a repeat of earlier.

Halting a few meters away, she continued talking. "I meant what I said before, Xander. You have so much potential hiding within you, just waiting for someone to see it and gently tease it out." She said earnestly. "That your 'friends' could not, does not in any way diminish the fact that it exists."

"W-why are you saying this? H-how-" Xander floundered, trying to make sense of the whole situation, and not really used to being complemented so honestly, no matter the source.

"After the Slayers defeated Kakistos, and that insufferable pillock Mr. Trick gave his allegiance to Richard Wilkins, I decided to stay in this town for a time. To assess my options, as it were." Suddenly, the vampire allowed a vulnerable expression to appear on her face. "I had been turned by Kakistos over three hundred years ago. In that time I rarely if ever left his presence. To be suddenly adrift, to be on my own for the first time that I could remember, was disconcerting."

"Cry me a fucking river, lady." Xander interrupted harshly. "What's this got to do with me."

Elizabeth actually looked hurt at his sharp tone. "At first, I didn't really know. I just wandered and fed. Keeping myself alive," Xander snorted nastily at that, "and out of the way of the Slayers. As time passed, my thoughts slowly turned to revenge. Against the Slayer and her friends, and against that turncoat, Trick. So I began stalking you all carefully. Learning your strengths and weaknesses." Tilting her head to the side, she favoured her _childe _with an ever so slight smile. "_You _almost immediately leapt out at me as someone to be cautious around, Xander."

Xander forgot to be angry at her for a moment, such was his surprise at that assessment. "Huh?"

"It was odd. I kept telling myself that it was a silly notion to be nervous about you. But, as I kept uncovering more and more of your hidden exploits in this town, I had to face the fact that _you_, a normal human, were quite possibly the most dangerous member of your little group."

Now he was grinding a finger into his ear, attempting to dislodge the blockage he was _sure _was in there somewhere. "I say again, 'Huh?'"

"You have done many things since you discovered the secret world around you, Xander. You staked one of your only childhood friends within the first few days of your discovery. You have fought along side the Slayer for almost three years, even after she spurned your advances in favour of bedding her undead lover. You sundered the Slayer line, spitting in the face of prophecy as you did so. You have been the glue that held your little group together more than once. You have dabbled in the darkest of dark arts, those concerning the mind and heart, for your own gain. And you have stared down most of the Scourges of Europe both successfully _and _repeatedly."

"I…what…" Xander was aghast. "How do you know all that?"

"Demons love to gossip, Xander. Gossip and brag." Elizabeth said smugly. "Although most of them are thoroughly cowed by the Slayer, they are more than willing to verbally assist anyone _else _who wishes to try their own luck against her. All I had to do was hint that I was planning to take your blonde friend down, and they couldn't wait to tell me what they knew."

Xander growled deep within his throat.

"Oh, don't be like that." She waved a hand dismissively. "You have heard of the saying, 'There is no honour among thieves' I assume?" He nodded. "Well, the original saying substituted 'Demons' for 'Thieves.' In any case, once I had some background, I began augmenting that with my own observations." She looked at him sympathetically. "They finally noticed that they had a _normal _human in their midst, didn't they? Your friends, I mean."

Xander fought to keep the negative emotions from bursting within him at that statement. He didn't quite succeed. "…yeah." He grunted sourly.

"So they set about forcing you out. 'For your own good," I believe was one of the reasons they gave. 'To keep you safe.' To let you live 'a normal life.'" Elizabeth had observed _other _reasons for them doing what they did. But it didn't suit her purpose to tell Xander that.

"I know all this already. I lived it, remember." Xander spat.

"And yet, you still decided to save their lives by making sure that the bomb underneath the Hellmouth did not explode."

Xander felt as if he had been sucker-punched in the gut. "H-how'd you-?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "I met a demon pre-cognitive at Willy's bar the night after that particular incident. Knowing what he was, I was curious as to why he seemed to be determinedly drinking himself into oblivion. So in exchange for buying his next two bottles of vodka, he told me exactly why." That slight smile reappeared on her face. "Thank you."

That non-sequitur threw Xander. "I know I'm saying this a lot, but Huh?"

"Thank you for stopping that bomb from exploding, and saving this planet in the process."

Xander looked at her weirdly, then burst out laughing. "This…this is so _fucking _rich!" He managed to force out between breaths. "If my friends had found out about that, I would have been in for the Mother _and _Father of all dressing downs for not staying out of the way like a good little Xander-shaped friend. The first time I get any sort of thank you for _any _of the good things that I've done over the past couple of years, and it has to come from a fucking _leech_!" Wiping away blood tears, Xander attempted to pull himself back together. "That's my life in a nut shell right there. Only the bad guys give me any sort of credit." He was about to remark further, when an almighty stomach cramp doubled him over and forced him to his knees. "_**Aargh! **_What the-?"

"Ah, I was wondering when that would happen." Elizabeth commented dryly.

"What? What are you…" Another cramp washed over him, stalling any further words.

"Despite how oddly powerful you are, Xander, you are still but a fledgling." The vampire stated as she approached him. "As such, you need to feed." Reaching out, she tried to pull him to his feet. "Come. I will find you someone."

"NO!" Xander thrust her roughly away from himself. "I am _not _gonna feed. I'd rather die first!"

"You will not have a choice, Xander." Elizabeth sighed as she got to her feet. "The demon within you is crying out for blood. And it will have it, one way or another. Whether you want it to or not. Accept that. Or find yourself a stake to fall upon." Stepping back, she turned to leave. "I leave your fate in your own hands for now. Tomorrow night, if you are still amongst us, I will find you and we will try this again. Adieu." With that, she completed her turn and walked into the shadows.

Xander barely noticed her departure. He was still writhing around on the ground, overwhelmed with extreme pain. Something within him was hungry, and it wanted him to do something about the situation. He fought against that desire for as long as he could, but eventually his conscious mind succumbed to the need.

* * *

#KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK#

Tony Harris jumped slightly as the sound of someone bashing on the front door penetrated the alcoholic haze he has wrapped himself within that afternoon. "_Jessica! _Answer the door you lazy bitch!" He shouted from his position on the couch. Grinding his knuckles into his eyes to wipe away the sleep accumulated there, he shouted again for his wife to answer the door.

Having no luck with her, (and guessing accurately that she was probably drunker than him right at that moment, therefore more useless than usual) he called out for the other waste of space sharing a house with him. "_Xander! _Xander, you miserable piece of shit! Get down here and make yourself useful for once!" He bellowed, smacking the wall with the flat of his hand to emphasise his point. "Get down here right now boy, or you'll be pissing blood for a _week_!"

With no answer coming from either his wife or son, Tony gave up and struggled to his feet, promising great pain to them both for making him exert himself. Reaching the door, he flung it open. "What the hell do you want?" He growled, before realising who was standing there.

"Hi, Dad." Xander whispered.

"…the hell are you doing out here, boy. You lose your keys, or sumthin'?" Xander shrugged vaguely, still looking at his shoes. "Get the fuck in here!" Tony shouted again, grabbing Xander by the collar and pulling him inside roughly. Slamming the door behind him, he spun around and threw Xander to the floor. "Why the fuck aren't you upstairs in your room at this time of night? An' where the hell did you get those faggy clothes? You someone's bitch now?" His son shrugged again, having not moved from his position on the floor.

Tony bristled at the way Xander was responding to him. No fear. No trembling. Just apathy, with a little disgust thrown in. _'Guess the boy needs another lesson in respect!' _The elder Harris managed to think through the throbbing of his head. "What have I told you about being outside after dark, boy." He growled.

"That bad things will happen to me." Xander responded softly.

"Got that right." Tony started removing his belt and wrapping it around his hand.

"Yeah, how 'bout that." Xander finally looked at his father in the eye with a weary grin. "For once, you were actually right about something. Go figure."

Tony Harris barely realised that there was something different about his son's tone before Xander's features _changed_. Out of nowhere deep ridges formed across his brow, while his eyes flared green. Hair sprouted all over his face. Even the boy's teeth were all sharp as he opened his mouth wide and reached for the man.

'_Whaafuck!' _Anthony Harris barely had time to think before Xander was upon him, wrenching his head to the side and mauling his neck. Belatedly, the elder Harris realised that his son was biting him, and that those half whispered stories he's heard around closing time at the bar might just have a grain of truth to them.

By the time he thought to resist, it was already too late. Xander had drained him beyond the point of being able to do anything but hang there limply and realise that he was going to die.

* * *

Sucking greedily at the wound, Xander mindlessly continued to feed far longer than he needed to.

Eventually, he realised that no more blood was forthcoming, and reluctantly let the body of the man who had fathered him slip from his fingers. Wiping his face and licking his fingers, he looked down at the fresh corpse and tried to explore his emotions over what he had just done.

'…_why aren't I feeling this more?' _He finally asked himself after several minutes of staring down at the cooling body. Drawing a blank, he gave the exercise away and started to wonder what he was going to do with the corpse_. 'And maybe I should change out of these crappy rags while I'm at it.' _

He'd just started to try and remove the shirt without shredding it with his new preternatural strength when a piercing shriek came from the other end of the hallway. "OH MY GOD! XANDER? WHAT HAPPENED?"

'_Oh yeah. Mom. Forgot about her.' _Xander winced as he turned to face her. "An early Christmas present?" He offered with his trademarked lopsided grin.

Unfortunately, he hadn't changed back from his demonic face. "AAAHHHH!" Jessica Harris screamed and tried to flee back upstairs as fast as she could. But since she was still incredibly not sober, all she managed to do was spin around, trip over her own feet, and crumple to the floor in a heap.

By the time she managed to gather her wits and look back down the hallway, Xander was there, leaning down over her…

* * *

Willow Rosenberg sighed deeply as she watched the tail-lights of her boyfriend's van disappear around the corner. After the scoobies had been unable to stop Xander from rising, they had regrouped and withdrawn to Giles' residence to try and plan for what might happen next. It had ended up being an exercise in futility. They were all still brain-fried after the trauma of the past three days, and in absolutely no condition to think clearly about what needed to be done. So Giles had sent them home with the stern warning that if they happened to find Xander on their own, under no circumstances were they to try and fight him or invite him in to their homes.

Sighing again, Willow unlocked the front door and let herself in. She noted absently that the hallway light was on. _'I guess Mom and Dad are back from their seminar in Idaho.' _After the 'M.O.O.' incident, in which hers and Buffy's mother had nearly burnt her, Amy and Jonathon at the stake for being proto-witches while under the influence of a demon, her parents had spent more time in Sunnydale than on the road becoming reacquainted with their daughter. _'I hope I don't get grounded for being out so late on a Sunday night.' _She thought to herself as she glanced at her watch.

Despite having to be more careful about pursuing her nocturnal activities both with the scoobies _and _with her boyfriend, it had actually been nice to have her mother and father around and paying proper attention to her for the first time in ages, despite the awkwardness of introducing Oz to them. But, as the months passed, they began to fall back into their old behavioural patterns. Tonight was the first time in three weeks that they'd come home.

Walking into the kitchen, she tried to come up with an excuse as to what she had been doing out so late when all thoughts shuddered to a halt.

There, leaning against the bench, slurping on a cup of hot chocolate and having an animated conversation with her mother, was Xander.

He was dressed differently from what Buffy had described as wearing earlier. Instead of being covered head to toe in black, he had changed into dark blue jeans and a plain white shirt. He had kept the trench coat, though.

'Oh, hi Wills!" Her best friend said, as naturally as you please. As if he hadn't been killed and turned into a bloodthirsty creature of the night inside the last three days. "The cops finally let you and the other's go, huh?"

Willow shook her head in confusion. "Whuh?"

"Like I was telling Mrs. R here, I was gonna hang with you guys at the Bronze for a bit earlier tonight when I saw the police and a few ambulances out the front." Xander winked at her while her mother's attention was off him and on her daughter. "I'm guessing another gang on PCP decided to try and cause some trouble again." He made a show of looking at his watch. "Wow, it's that late? I guess the detectives _really _had a lot of statements to take down."

Willow came out of her haze long enough to nod in agreement. "Uh-huh."

"Are you okay, honey? You look a bit frazzled." Mrs. Rosenberg asked, slightly worried.

'_You don't know the half of it Mom!' _Willow whimpered internally. "I'm fine Mom. Actually, we didn't even see any of it happen. We were on the other side of the club." She ventured weakly, still shocked that not only was a vampire in her house and that they were all still alive, but that said vampire was actually _helping _her with an excuse for her being out so late.

Mrs. Rosenberg clucked her tongue. "You still look a bit pale. Perhaps you should turn in for the night."

"Okay Mom."

"Hey Mrs. R, do you mind if I bend Will's ear for a bit? I've been a bit sick the last couple of days and I haven't had a chance to catch up with my bestest friend in the whole wide world for a while." When Willow's mother looked like she was going to disapprove, he produced his best sad-puppy-eyes. "Please?"

Mrs. Rosenberg relented without too much hesitation. And Xander _did _look a little pale from whatever bug he'd had. "Very well. But only for half an hour. My little girl needs her rest after such a trying night. And you both have school tomorrow." Walking up to her daughter, she gave her a quick hug and a peck on the forehead. "Good night Willow."

"Good night Mom." Willow whispered as she was ushered out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"G'night, Mrs. R!" Xander waved as he followed Willow. "I'll make sure I lock the door on my way out." Turning back, he noted that Willow had sprinted into her room while he was reassuring her mother. Smirking, he made his way up the stairs and entered his best friend's room to see her frantically trying to yank the cross that she and Buffy had nailed to the wall after Angelus' return the previous year. "Watcha doin', little red-haired girl?" He asked cheerfully as he leant against her doorway.

"N-Nothing!" Willow spun around, torn between denying that she was up to anything and having another go at ripping the cross off before Xander could get to her_. 'Darn it! I just __had__ to be thorough about putting it up, didn't I!' _She wailed internally.

"Uh-huh." Xander snorted. "Dunno why you'd bother going for that cross tucked behind the curtain when you have a perfectly fine Star of David on a chain around your neck."

Willow gaped, not quite understanding.

Xander smirked. "It's like this Wills. Most religious objects and symbols will work against vamps, not just the Christian ones. Like Giles said, way back when, Vampires are pretty much at the bottom of the demonic pecking order. It doesn't take a lot to shoo them away."

Willow continued to stare at him in shock. "Really?"

Xander nodded. "Really. You didn't know?"

She shook her head. "No. How do you-" She sputtered.

Xander scratched the back of his head. "C'mon Wills. You've read the same musty, dusty old books I have. It's all in there."

"Oh." Now she was really confused. She wasn't used to Xander picking up something faster than her, especially when it came to books and the knowledge contained therein.

"Anyway, we're getting off-topic. I actually came here for a reason." Pushing himself away from the door frame, Xander walked slowly over to his best friend, an odd smile on his face.

Willow's eyes went wide, and she backed away from him until she ran into the wall, unable to retreat further.

"Are you going to drink my blood now?" She whimpered.

Xander continued to approach her slowly, an odd twinkle in his eyes. Stepping well inside her personal space, he looked her over with a critical expression before leaning in and delicately sniffed her neck. Ignoring her involuntary flinch, he whispered in her ear;

* * *

Notes: ooohh, what will Xander say to Willow? Is he going to drain her, or just turn her? Will I be flamed for my pathetic attempt to introduce some dramatic tension into this story? Will anyone reading this actually care?


	5. Chapter 4

"_Anyway, we're getting off-topic. I actually came here for a reason." Pushing himself away from the door frame, Xander walked slowly over to his best friend, an odd smile on his face. _

_Willow's eyes went wide, and she backed away from him until she ran into the wall, unable to retreat further. _

"_Are you going to drink my blood now?" She whimpered._

_Xander continued to approach her slowly, an odd twinkle in his eyes. Stepping well inside her personal space, he looked her over with a critical expression before leaning in and delicately sniffed her neck. Ignoring her involuntary flinch, he whispered in her ear; _

* * *

BAD XANDER

By: Tezza1502

Disclaimer: It's not mine! It's Joss&Co's. And the Brothers of Warner.

Notes: Xander and Willow have a chat about his changed circumstances. A favour is asked, and a friendship is oddly reaffirmed.

* * *

CHAPTER 4:-Are you Xander?

"Depends. Are you Kosher?"

Willow's eyes went wide, then blazed as she pushed Xander away and began slapping as much of him as she could reach. "_**Xander! **_What have I told you about making fun of my religion?" She demanded crossly.

"That just because you get seven days worth of gifts at Hanukkah to my one day of Christmas, I shouldn't be jealous?" Xander backed away quickly while easily deflecting her onslaught. "Hey, I was just trying to lighten the mood! You looked like you were going to faint any minute."

"Well, what did you think would happen when you show up here acting all normal-like after being…" Willow trailed off, suddenly remembering that this wasn't her friend in front of her any more, but a vampire wearing his body. "…oh, God." She sat heavily on the corner of her bed. "This is really real. You're really turned. Ohgodohgodohgodohgod-"

Watching his friend hyperventilate while starting to tear up, Xander felt something within him stir. "Wills, please. Don't cry. Don't-" Fighting back his own tears, Xander carefully sat down behind her and gathered her up into his arms. The action was so normal between them, so _natural_, that Willow allowed it without any hesitation.

They sat like that for a few minutes, neither of them willing to shatter the fragile peace.

Finally, Xander spoke, "Wills-" He choked, before starting again. "What's happening to me? Apart from the obvious, that is." They both let out a barking chuckle. "I mean, I've read Giles' books. I've seen what happens to people when they're turned with my own eyes. Why am I not acting like them." He whispered into her hair. "Why do I still feel like, well, _me_?"

"I don't know, Xander." She felt her best friend's arms stiffen around her in surprise. 'I Don't Know' were three words that passed through Willow Rosenberg's lips extremely rarely. "And right now I don't really care."

"I just…I feel…whether it's because I've fed already tonight, or what, I don't know. I just don't feel like what I think a vamp should. It's very weird."

Willow sprang out of his arms and off the bed when she heard that little tidbit. "You've what?"

"Um, yeah. I got these killer cramps earlier. That bitch vamp that turned me said they were hunger pangs." He understood very well why she was jumpy, but it hurt all the same. "So I went home."

"You…you went…"

Xander shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, I didn't want to feed on some random stranger who didn't deserve to be killed just because I was hungry. So I went after the only people I _knew _wouldn't be missed by anyone. Least of all me."

Willow was now heading into shock. "You killed your parents?" She asked in a tiny voice. She was horrified at the almost clinical tone in Xander's voice as he spoke. However, a small vengeful part of her was totally on board with his choice. After she and Jesse had found out the truth about his home life after the one and _only _sleepover at his place, and the subsequent promises extracted from them by him to never bring it up again, she was content that some measure of justice had been served against Tony and Jessica Harris for their sins.

"Not both of them." Willow cocked an eyebrow at him, curious despite her ongoing horror at the whole situation. "I mean, that was the original intent, yeah. And I did off my dad when he tried to beat the crap out of me for being outside so late. But my mom…"

"What did you do to her?" Willow demanded softly.

Xander looked down at his hands briefly, before raising his head again. "I-I wanted to. I really wanted to. But, as I looked down at her on the floor, something stopped me. I-I couldn't do it. Despite all the times she's stepped aside and let dad hit me, all the times she's ignored me, all that _shit_…at the end of the day she's _still _my mom." Willow watched his eyes and saw how stunned he was at that personal revelation. "I couldn't do it."

"So-"

Xander sighed deeply. "So, I hugged her for a bit, reassured her that I wasn't going to hurt her, and told her the truth about my life for the past three years. _All _of it. Including the last three days."

"…oh boy." Willow slid down the wall, stunned. "How'd she take it?"

Xander ran a shaky hand through his hair. "Slightly better than Buffy's mom, which isn't saying much." They both shared a slight chuckle at that before falling into a slightly uncomfortable silence.

"So, um…what happens now? And why'd you come to me?"

Xander looked at his best friend with total surprise. "Because, um…" He sputtered, before starting again. "Who else am I gonna go to? Who else would I come to with a problem? I mean, I know we haven't exactly been the closest of friends after The Fluke an' all, but you're still the one person I trust in all the world to help me when I need it, Wills." He stated earnestly.

Willow had thought that after all the shocks she'd received tonight, she'd be immune to any more. _'Shows what I know, I guess.' _"Really?" She squeaked. When he nodded in response, she felt herself blush. "Wow. I mean, wow. I thought that after I'd been ignoring you so much lately-"

Xander held up a hand to hold off the torrent of Willow-babble that was about to surge forth. "I understand why, Wills. I really do. If Cordy had decided to forgive my worthless ass, I would have been doing the same to you I guess." He shrugged at yet another lost chance in his life. "But, now I need you to do something for me."

"What?"

"I need you to search through those darling books of Giles that we all love so much and find out what the hell went wrong with me being turned."

"Oh." For a minute, Willow had forgotten what was sitting awkwardly on her bed. "Right."

"'Cause, whatever's happened to me was not normal." He smiled mirthlessly. "Well, even less normal than being punched out by captain Hairgel, left on the street, and being turned by the undead."

"Angel punched you out?" Willow blurted.

"Um, yeah. Knocked me out and left me on the side of the road, while he was going somewhere with Faith. That's how come I was turned." Xander looked at her oddly. "Just out of curiosity, is he evil again?"

"Um, no." Willow managed to look embarrassed. "It seems like Angel, Buffy and Giles were faking the skank out to try and learn a little more about the Mayor's plans."

"Well, that explains why the Buffster had such a hard-on for staking me earlier." Xander noticed Willow going pale again, and a surprised look on her face. "What? She didn't tell you guys that she was willing to stake me straight away?" He spat. "Deadboy gets six months of second chances, yet I'm supposed to roll over and be all dusty straight out of the gate!"

"I, um, something might have been said. But I was kinda out of it by then. You know, after the shock of having just found out that my best friend had been killed and turned into a vampire an' all."

"Oh yeah, right. That." Xander stood up and began pacing the room in front of her. "Willow, I realise that tonight has been one shock after another for you, but I want to promise you something." Facing her, he crouched down on his haunches in front of her. He was gratified that this time she didn't flinch at his proximity. "I am not going to hurt you, or drain you, or turn you."

"W-why not? I mean, you're a soulless vampire now. One of the bad guys. Shouldn't you be doing stuff like that?" All of a sudden, Willow started paying better attention to the words coming out of her mouth. "N-not that you should start right now, I mean. Not if you don't want to. Who am I to try and pressure you into doing something you don't want to do. Seriously! Continue with what you were saying and ignore my crazy babbling. Just ignore me. Go on. Please?" She pleaded, hoping that her big mouth hadn't just ended her chances of surviving tonight.

Xander was on his ass laughing by the time she wound down. "Oh God I love you so much Willow. Babbling and all."

"Really?"

"Of course! That hasn't changed." He stopped chuckling and got serious again. "And that's a part of what I'm talking about. I still feel _exactly _the same way about you now that I did last week." Xander took a deep breath and continued talking. "How sorry I am for my part in The Fluke. The need to protect you, even though you don't trust me to be around you anymore. The fact that even though we aren't anywhere near as close to each other like the way we used to be, I still care for you." Willow's mouth was a perfect 'O' of surprise at his words. "I need you to find out why. Did I come back with a soul? And if I did, why do I feel nothing but happy about the fact that earlier tonight I drained my dad? Why do I feel like me about some things, but totally cold and indifferent about others?" He stared into her eyes and let her see some of the fear and confusion swirling around in him. "Why am I different to every other vampire I ever heard about?"

Willow stared back at this vampire with her best friends face, and began to feel some irrational hope within herself. "O-okay Xander. I'll look into it tomorrow at the library."

Xander, overcome with relief, leant in and swept her up in a hug. "Thanks Wills. Thank you so much."

Willow waited until he had finished and backed away before asking something. "Xander. Do you mind… I mean, can I tell the others? About tonight, I mean."

Xander paused. That hadn't occurred to him at all. His mind had been concentrating on other things during the walk over to the Rosenberg's residence. He knew that if he asked her to keep it a secret, the others would notice her acting funny and pry. Especially Buffy or Oz. And while Willow was capable of many things, she was completely _in_capable of keeping a secret. Particularly from the people she loved. "Sure Wills. The last thing I want you doing is lying to the others about this. With the Mayor and Faith doing their thing, I don't want you guys doing any infighting over me when you should be concentrating on them."

"Thanks, Xand!" Willow exhaled with relief. While she would have tried to keep it a secret if he'd asked, she was self-aware enough to know that the truth would have been blurted out sooner or later.

Just then, her mother's voice penetrated the closed door, reminding the two of them that their half-hour was up.

"That's my cue, I guess." Xander sighed as he headed for the door. "See ya 'round, Wills."

"…Xander?" The voice of his best friend stopped his progress. He turned to see Willow looking utterly conflicted. "I…"

"Willow?"

Watching his childhood friend scrunch up her face in a way that had always made him want to both laugh and comfort her at the same time, Xander was about to ask what had put her into such a state of indecision when she launched herself into his arms. He hugged her purely out of reflex and was about to speak again when he noticed that her body was hitching slightly within his embrace. "Wills?"

"Please Xander." Recognising the tone despite all the sniffling, he fell silent. "I know that you're a Vampire now and that maybe its not really you in there but I've been so scared the last few days when I found out you'd been killed I died a little inside too." More sniffling. "I mean whatever you are now you're still Xander in there I can just feel it somehow I don't care what the other's say I know you almost like I know myself." She paused and wiped her tears on his shirt. "Oh Xander I was so scared that I'd be left all alone the last surviving member of the 'We Hate Cordelia Club' y'know I know I'm being selfish with what's happened to you an' all but I can't help it _I missed you so badly Xander!_" Willow was almost wailing by the time she wound down. The only reason that her mother hadn't heard anything was because her face was firmly buried into his chest.

Xander just stood there, rubbing his hands in comforting circles on her back absently. "Wills, I…" He was shocked by her outburst. He had begun to think lately that he had finally become completely superfluous to the group. The way they had been cutting him out of things had only been reinforcing the feeling. And his latest misadventure should have severed the final thread connecting him to them.

But Willow's outpouring of emotion had both floored him and reassured him that at least _one _of the Scoobies still cared whether he lived or died. "…thank you." He finally said. "That means more to me than you know." Tucking a stray bit of her fringe behind her left ear, he gave his best friend a light peck on the forehead. "I…gotta go. I'll see you around." Gently removing himself awkwardly from her embrace, he quickly made his way down the stairs and out the front door, remembering to lock it behind him like he said he would.

* * *

Willow watched from her small balcony as her newly-changed friend made his way down the street and out of sight. _'I know it's wrong to think this, with what he's become and all, but…stay safe Xander.' _She thought to herself, still horribly conflicted despite her earlier words to him_. 'I don't want to lose you again.'_

* * *

As Xander made his way deeper into Sunnydale, he found himself wondering where he was going to hide himself for the day. _'Mom's place is out. And I can't really do the clichéd thing either, and commandeer myself a crypt. Buffy'll find my pale yet cute butt in no time.' _He mused_. I also want to put off dropping in on the Unibrow for a while. Sooo…' _Despite gaining something of an upgrade in the mental department, it took Xander almost until dawn before the ideal place occurred to him. _'Of course! It's __**perfect! **__She won't think of __**there**__ for ages!' _Whistling the theme song to Red Dwarf badly off-key, he hurried his pace towards his destination.

* * *

Notes: Next up, the first day of everyone's new reality.


	6. Chapter 5

BAD XANDER

By: Tezza1502

Disclaimer: Once more for the people up the back; 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' the TV show is not mine in any way, shape or form. It's © Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, the WB, and various others.

Notes: I'd call this chapter, 'where do we go from here', but that's a little too clichéd even for me.

Or, y'know, not.

* * *

CHAPTER 6:- Conflicting Signals.

Xander woke up about six hours after he had fallen into a surprisingly restful sleep. This surprised him more than a little, considering he had lain himself down on nothing more than stone and dirt, with an old wall hanging for a matress.

Having spent years making sure he was truly awake before leaving his bed, (so as not to disturb his father, thus incurring a 'penalty' for making too much noise.) the newly-minted vampire spent several minutes gathering his wits before opening his eyes and looking around.

He observed absently that his senses were registering a surprising catalogue of sensations he had never noticed before he was turned. His sense of smell in particular was picking up several older scents that were surprisingly familiar within his mind. _'I guess no-ones been down here since that night.' _He mused.

Deciding that he was not ready to venture out in to the caves that honeycombed Sunnydale just yet, (and enjoying the thought that he finally had an iron-clad excuse to ditch school permanently.) Xander spent the next few hours becoming acquainted with his new body and it's inherent upgrades. In particular, his five vastly expanded senses. After that came a spot of exploring around his recently acquired yet temporary home.

Finally, no longer being able to avoid thinking about it, Xander spent the rest of the day reflecting on his new life. In particular, how he was going to relate to his former friends and enemies now that he had been turned.

* * *

Buffy Summers awoke to the sound of her alarm going off.

Glaring at it balefully, she considered hitting the snooze button and stealing a few more Z's. Her mother quickly put paid to that idea with a soft knock at the door and a gentle reminder that it was a school day, and that she couldn't call in sick again because of what had happened.

_That _woke her up like a thrown bucket of cold water.

School.

She had to go.

Willow had to go.

Giles would be there.

And Xander would never go again.

Ever.

Because they had decided that it would be safer for him to be kept out of the loop.

Having thusly re-acquainted herself with the crushing feeling of despair she had been nursing the past few days, Buffy pulled herself out of bed and set about getting herself ready for school.

* * *

Daniel Osbourne's transition from dreaming to wakefulness was it's usual brief affair.

Sitting up and wiping away the sleep in his eyes, he threw some water over his face and began the three S's that was his morning routine. Staring at his reflection as he shaved, he pondered once again the connection between the young woman he was sure he loved and the man that had nearly stolen her away from him. _'And could again.' _He admitted to himself uneasily. Those two have been a part of each other since they were in pre-K. It was possible that Xander might decide to keep his best friend beside him for all eternity_. _

'_No! I nearly lost her to him once. I will __**not **__let it happen again.' _He vowed silently.

Getting dressed, he made his way out the door of his parents house and into his van. He had promised to pick his girlfriend up today, and he didn't want to be late.

* * *

Willow Rosenberg sprung out of her bed with a fair measure of her usual vim and vigour, twenty minutes before her alarm was set to sound off.

Going through her morning ablutions without any conscious thought, her mind was fully occupied by what Xander had asked her to accomplish and how she was going to break the news of his visit last night to the rest of the group.

Both goals would be a challenge. But the knowledge that he might still be in there somewhere was enough to have Willow skipping with glee.

Bouncing out the front door while blowing a kiss to her parents, she hugged a surprised Oz as he arrived to pick her up. (In fact he was so surprised by her perky behaviour after the devastating experiences of the previous few days that he raised _both _eyebrows!)

When he asked, all she would say was that it could wait until the gang was all together.

* * *

Rupert Giles groaned as he felt the effects of the well aged 'medicinal' scotch he had allowed himself the previous night still lingering in his skull.

Swallowing some vitamin B along with a couple of painkillers, he slowly gathered himself together to face another day in the library, planning how to kill one of his informal charges.

As well as the Mayor of Sunnydale.

And possibly a rogue Slayer as well.

'_I gave up any chance at a normal life and devoted myself entirely to this sacred calling again because…?' _He muttered to himself a question that he had been asking far too often lately. Sadly, the only answer he had was to sigh before squaring his shoulders and shouldering the Watcher's eternal burden for another day.

* * *

Cordelia Chase applied her makeup with practiced ease while she sat at her excessively equipped makeup table. Turning her face this way and that, checking her reflection in her well lit, three-panel mirror, making sure that everything was perfect for a day of lording over her less-fortunate peers.

She was about to put on her eyeliner when she noticed a tear winding it's way down her cheek. Scrunching up her face and wiping it away, more fell in it's place. Unable to stop them, she finally gave up and spent a few minutes letting them flow.

"_Damn you, Xander Harris_." She whispered as she watched herself cry.

A polite reminder from the family maid not to be late for school drew Cordelia back to the present. Wiping her eyes, she finished applying her makeup and attempted to smile her usual sunny smile.

Failing miserably, she settled for an honest scowl and walked out of her room.

* * *

Angel spent the hours after the failed attempt on Xander, brooding. As the sun peeked over the horizon, he fretted for a bit. Mid morning was time for a spot of agonising over his _other _mistakes. After a power nap during the hottest part of the day, he spent the afternoon dwelling on what he could have done differently after he was put in the driver's seat of this vampiric body he currently occupied. By the time the sun began setting, he was thoroughly depressed. This naturally led to more quality brooding time.

All in all, a pretty normal day for him.

* * *

When Buffy arrived at school, she was surprised to find Willow standing next to her boyfriend practically bursting out of her skin. _'How can she be so perky after everything that's happened?' _Was the Slayers disgruntled thought as she approached the couple. A quick glance to Oz told her that he didn't know what was going on either.

"Willow, what-?" Willow's hand quickly came up and shushed her.

"Not now." She whispered. "Something happened last night, after Oz dropped me home. I'll tell you at lunch in the library. Make sure Cordelia's there too." Without waiting for an answer, the red head turned and bounced away towards her homeroom, leaving one stunned friend and one stunned boyfriend in her wake.

"What on earth has gotten into her, Oz?"

"No idea. She was like this when I picked her up." Came the less than stoic answer. "C'mon. We're going to be late."

Buffy swallowed any further questions and followed the diminutive werewolf into the school.

* * *

The hours passed slowly until lunch break. Despite her attempts, Buffy couldn't extract any more information out of her best friend other than what had already been said. Dutifully passing on Willow's request to Cordelia as the bell sounded, Buffy led the cheerleader and the guitarist to the library. Flinging open the doors, she saw that the red head was already there, flitting in and out of Giles' private occult collection like a deranged hummingbird while the Giles and Wesley looked on in confusion. Oz brushed past the two girls and went to Willow's side, giving her a peck on the lips as a greeting.

"Okay Willow. What's going on with you today?" Buffy demanded.

"Yes Willow. You have been abnormally cheerful today, considering Xander's fate." Giles added from the entrance to his office, instantly regretting his choice of words as everyone flinched.

Shaking off a shiver, Willow looked around the room and took a deep breath. "Xander visited me last night." She stated simply.

Silence reigned. For all of two seconds.

"He _**what?!**_" Buffy managed to scream first, though only barely. Willow found herself quickly surrounded by the others, all of them throwing questions at her at the top of their voices while checking her physically for any sign of damage.

She put up with it for approximately half a minute. "Alright, _everyone __**back off!**_" Even Oz sprang back a metre when she shouted. Taking advantage of the hiatus, she gathered some books from the shelf behind her and headed for the large table in the centre of the library foyer.

Giles was the first to recover his wits this time. "Willow, h-how did he-? A-are you-?"

"I'm fine Giles. As for how he got in; my mother invited him in for a cup of hot chocolate I guess." She smiled slightly, remembering Xander's habit of showing up at her house miraculously whenever there was a free meal on offer.

"Is she… I mean, is your Mom still alive?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah." The other girl replied absently as she flipped through the books in front of her.

"How? Why?"

Willow shrugged. "It's Xander." She said that as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"But, he's a vampire now." The blonde barely stuttered over that word.

The red head looked up and glared at her. "So's Angel, and you still let _him _walk around _your _place."

"WILLOW!" Buffy shouted. "Angel has a soul. Xander doesn't."

"I'm not so sure about that." Willow muttered under her breath. Only Buffy's hearing was good enough to pick it up.

"_What _did you say?"

"Nothing important."

Cordelia decided to enter the conversation then. "So how was he? How did he look? Has he killed anyone yet?" Buffy and Giles frowned at her for that last question. "_What? _We all know that vampires have to feed right after they rise."

Buffy was about to open her mouth and give the other girl a piece of her mind for being so insensitive when Willow spoke. "Actually Cordelia, he seemed to be, well, Xander-like. Y'know, normal. Mostly. Um, he looked pale. And yes, he has fed."

Once again, Willow managed to silence the room.

"Who?" Buffy whispered, horrified. "Who did he-"

"His dad."

"No great loss there." Cordelia spat indifferently.

"_Cordelia!_" Buffy shrieked.

"Oh shove it where the sun don't shine, Summers!" Cordelia shouted back. "Tony Harris was the biggest prick I have _ever _had the misfortune to meet, and I am _damn _glad Xander snuffed him."

"How can you say that about another human being?" Buffy growled back, getting in the taller teen's face. "How can you be happy that Xander's a killer now?"

Cordelia sneered and leant in so that she was nose to nose with the Slayer. "Because I know how bad his home life was there. How they used to treat him." She winced. "Mostly it was just neglect. Sometimes, it was worse."

Buffy's eyes flew wide open at that. "no" She turned to Willow, hoping to see some sort of denial in her face. When Willow nodded sadly in affirmation, she wilted. "_no_"

"Yes, Slayer. Not everyone has at least one good parent like you do."

Buffy sat down hard. "Why didn't he ever say something? Why didn't _you_?" She scowled up at Cordelia.

"Because I'm guessing that he made her give the same promises Jesse and I had to." Willow put in from the other side of the table. Looking at her occasional adversary, she noticed her give a small nod as her answer.

"…why?" Buffy was still trying to get her head around what was being revealed.

"Because when Tony Harris gets drunk, he doesn't care who he hits." Willow shuddered in memory of the one and only sleepover she and Jesse had at Xander's place. "And Xander didn't want to chance him coming after any of us in a drunken fit some time." By now she was wiping away tears as Oz held her from behind.

"How bad was he? I-I mean…" Giles asked hesitantly.

Willow and Cordelia shared another glance. "We will never really know, Giles. Xander can be very good at hiding the stuff he doesn't want you to find out about." The red head answered.

The brunette nodded. "Tell me about it! When we were dating, he'd sometimes have bruises on his body, and I'd know for a fact that he hadn't been hit by a vampire or demon recently." Cordelia sniffled at her memories. "It took ages for me to get him to talk about it. Even then, it was only towards the end that he opened up slightly."

"So why were you so mean to him, afterwards? If you knew." Buffy demanded hotly.

"Because that damn Zeppo broke my _heart!_" Cordelia shouted back. "He _deserved _it for doing that to me."

"And even then, she never threw what was going on at home with his father in his face." Willow spoke up, coming to the cheerleaders defence. "She kept her promise."

"…yeah." Cordelia turned away, remembering with shame all the times she had lashed out and called him useless or a loser. Just like his father did.

Letting the silence draw out somewhat painfully, Oz put his hand up. "Um, getting back on topic; what did he want with you?"

Willow jumped slightly. "Oh, um, he wanted me to do some research for him."

"Really?"

"Yeah Giles. He said that he felt different to what he thought a vamp should be feeling, and he wanted me to look into it for him."

"Different? How so?" Wesley, who had been content to remain silent in the background until now, asked.

Willow pondered what Xander had said and what she has observed personally the night before. "Well, while he, um, you know, _drained_ his dad, he didn't hurt his mom at all."

"Good lord! He left a witness alive? How unusual for a vampire."

"Not only that, but he sat her down and explained to her what's been happened to him the past three years. _All _of it." She stressed pointedly.

Giles whipped his glasses off and began polishing them frantically. "R-Really?"

Willow nodded. "According to him. Plus, he was totally _non_-threatening to me and my mom. Aside from that one tasteless joke, that is."

"What did he do?" Buffy asked. Willow told them about Xander pretending to size her up as a meal.

Cordelia snorted. "Yeah, that sounds like something the dork would do."

"Anything else?" Giles asked.

Willow hesitated for a second, before finally deciding to tell that as well. _'It might help convince them.' _She figured. "He said that he still loved me. That he still considered me his best friend. That he trusted me. And that he would never turn me, or hurt me." She waited a heartbeat. "And I…I believe him."

"What? _No! _You can't. It's not him any more, don't you realise that?" Buffy demanded.

Willow fixed her with a frozen stare. "What I realise, _Elizabeth Ann Summers_, is that I have known Xander pretty much from day one. I know him upside and down, inside and out. And while I may not always know exactly what's going on inside that head of his, I will _always _know when he is hiding something, or lying to me. _I-believe-__**him**_." With that, she sat down and proceeded to ignore everyone to read the books in front of her.

At that moment, the bell to return to class sounded.

Giles looked around the tense group. "Uh… right, yes, well, I will go through my books and see if anything jogs my memory. You should all head to class, and we will regroup here after school ends for the day."

Willow huffed and headed out first, stopping only to thank Giles for his offer to continue researching.

Oz and Cordelia followed her out, both wishing to catch up to her for their own reasons.

Finally, Buffy blinked and spoke. "Could she…Do you think that she, that Willow, might be right Giles?"

Giles was torn between offering hope and inflaming false hope. "I…I truly can not say, Buffy. Vampires can be frightfully superb mimics." He sighed. "Yet Willow raises her own good points. And honestly, Xander has been possessed at least twice in his lifetime by some incredibly powerful magics, along with all the _other _misadventures he has been involved in. Who's to say." He finished belatedly.

Buffy nodded slowly, before turning and leaving the room.

Giles waited until she was well out of range before running his hands through his hair. "Who's to say indeed." He repeated to himself, hoping that Willow would not choose to divide her loyalty.


	7. Chapter 6

BAD XANDER

By: Tezza1502

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN BUFFY! Or Xander. Or _(SIGH)_ Willow. Or anyone else in the Buffy/Angel-verse. Joss Whedon does. And Mutant Enemy. And the WB. And a whole bunch of lawyers. And quite possibly others that I have no knowledge of.

Not me.

Notes: Takes place the night of the previous chapter.

* * *

CHAPTER 7:- Xander After Dark.

Xander left his temporary home to explore the cave network underneath Sunnydale. He had always meant to do this, _before_, but he couldn't convince anyone to come with him. Namely Buffy.

Hey, he wanted to survive the experience!

Now that he fit in with the local nightlife a bit better, he decided to indulge himself while he waited for the sun to go down.

Out of sheer habit, he had created some wooden stakes earlier in the day from the debris left behind by the last inhabitant, as well as claiming a small double-headed battleaxe he had found discarded in a corner. Considering the company he had been keeping these past few years, better safe than sorry he figured. Secreting the items about the inside of the trench coat he had kept from last night, he felt slightly better about venturing out. Taking a quick glance around the entrance to memorise it, he then picked a direction at random to follow.

* * *

He had managed to keep his mind from being overwhelmed so far, but now that he was away from the relative familiarity of the cave he had spent the night in he couldn't help wandering around in awe at what he was seeing. Every single sense he possessed was heightened to an incredible degree. Mundane details seemed to leap out at him, demanding his complete attention. _'No wonder vamps walk around acting so superior. And no wonder they're so easy to dust first up. It feels like my head's going to explode from information overload.' _He thought absently as he tried to focus on not collapsing into a stupor. _'I guess it's a __good__ thing I was so preoccupied with survival last night. __And__ that I had some time to adjust earlier.' _

Despite practicing all day, it was slow going. He was having to concentrate harder and longer than he had ever had to before. He'd take a few steps, then pause as he hauled his mind in to order enough to take a few more steps. Slowly, the same instincts he had drawn on back in the cave began helping him adapt enough so that he could function. _'Man, I'm glad Buffy's not here right now. She'd be able to stake my ass with no trouble. Heck, Cordy could!' _Finally, he was feeling normal enough to start taking his usual strides when he walked.

He had been wandering for about an hour when he was found by a small cluster of five vampires.

"What the-?" One of them asked as they all changed into their game faces.

"We got a stray snack here?" Said another, most likely the leader in Xander's opinion. She had that air of age and slight competence about her.

"Nah, it's a newbie." The first one stated with authority. "Maybe a couple o' days old. He's still got that _'What-the-Fuck?' _look on his face."

The leader looked Xander up and down, appraising him. "So, you affiliated with anyone?"

"Huh?"

"Are you part of a group, or are you just wandering around down here hiding from the Slayer." She stated with a hint of annoyance.

Xander finally shook off his surprise at having walked into a bunch of vamps and not being drained yet. _'Well duh! You're a vamp yourself now, idiot!' _An inner voice that sounded a lot like his Ex sneered at him. "Uh, no. I'm a free agent, I guess." He answered nervously.

The female vamp looked him over again, before asking with a slight smile whether he wanted to hang with them. He was cute, in a goofy kinda way. At least, he looked better than the droogs she had lumbered herself with lately.

"Sure! Why not." Xander replied brightly. Falling into step with them, he began answering their questions as best he could. And hoping like heck that they were new to town. Considering who he had been hanging around with and what he had been doing in his spare time before he was turned, it would not be pretty if one of them recognised him.

"You look familiar."

'_Crap!' _"Uh, really?" Xander turned to look at the vampire who had spoken. "Did you go to school here? 'Cause I'm…I mean I _was _a student at Sunnydale High." He corrected himself. "Maybe you spotted me at the Bronze, or something?"

"Naw, it was from somewhere else…" The vamp muttered. "It'll come to me."

"Dude, you'd forget to feed if you weren't in a pack!" The one next to him taunted while giving him a nudge.

"Ah screw you!" The memory-challenged one snarled.

"Sorry dude, your not my type."

Before they could turn their argument physical, the leader cracked their heads together. "Knock it off you dipshits!" She growled. "We ain't the only nasties down here, an' I don't want any demons finding us and deciding they want to play _'pull the limbs of the vamps!' _'cause their bored."

"Okay boss."

"Sorry."

Xander couldn't help but snicker at the two vampires looking like they had just been scolded by their teacher.

"The fuck you laughing at, newbie?"

The former Scooby got a panicked look on his face. "Ah, nothing. Sorry guys." He said, backing off a bit and putting his hands up in a placating manner.

Seeing him do that, a light went off in the mind of the vampire who had thought he had recognised him. "THAT'S where I've seen this guy before. He's pals with the Slayer!"

'_Double crap!' _Xander backed away a little further. "Me? _No! _Nonononono. Why would I be doing hanging around with Buffy…" He stopped and groaned at what he had just inadvertently admitted. "Crapcakes on fire."

"Well well, a buddy of the Slayer's got turned. How 'bout that." The leader grinned cruelly. "Sucks to be you, going from being the Slayer's friend to being her prey like that. I wonder how long you'll last until she gets you?" She taunted while motioning her pack to surround him.

Xander felt an odd calmness descend on him. "Actually, I've already survived one encounter with her."

That froze them for a second. "Bullshit! How?"

He shrugged. "Threw her through a wall and ran like hell in the other direction after dodging an arrow from her Watcher."

The leader snorted. "Yeah right. How could a weed like you manage _that_?"

Xander just smiled at her. _'Five to one odds. Doable, now that I'm as strong as them.' _A part of his mind that had lain mostly dormant since _that _Halloween started to come to life again in preparation.

"Hey boss." One of the other's piped up. "I'm thinking' that if we off this guy, it'll maybe get us a free pass in the future. Y'know, helping the Slayer to put her old pal out of his misery, an' all."

"…yeah." She said after a moment's thought. "In fact, we should probably tell her straight away, right after we dust you. You know, present her with your ashes in an urn, or something. It might even shock her enough for us to take her out, permanently." The leader's smile widened the more she thought about it. A chance to _actually _take out a Slayer. Imagine the bragging rights they would gain. They'd never have to buy drinks down at Willy's bar again!

"What, no solidarity amongst vamps?" Xander queried, readying himself. _'Okay, let's see if I can do again, what I did last night against the Buffster.'_

"Please! If you ain't in a pack, you're fair game. An' to be honest, I wonder how many of us you've dusted over the years."

"Enough to know how to do it right." Xander grinned cheekily as his hands blurred inside his trench coat. Pulling out a stake in each hand, he thrust them backwards into the chests of the two shocked vampires behind him. _'Three to one.' _He smirked. Whirling about, he saw that the leader had thrown off her surprise and begun shouting at her remaining minions. Being vampires, they did not carry weapons. So it was fangs and claws against wood and, unbeknownst to them, steel.

Moving after the leader, Xander avoided her punches easily. _'Damn this is easier to do now.' _He chuckled to himself. Focusing his attention totally on her, he missed one of the others coming in from the side.

"Aaoww!" He whined as the stake in his left hand was kicked away. Switching his focus, he reached for the vamp when it attempted to follow through on the kick with a fist. Grabbing the offending arm and pulling his opponent forwards, Xander slammed his knee into the other's chest three times in quick succession. Planting his left foot, he used his right to hook behind his opponents legs and drop the vamp to the floor before quickly stomping on it's ribcage, hard. He then spun around and faced the leader, who had charged him while he was distracted.

She crashed into him and slammed him into a wall. "Damn you!" She grunted as she tried to claw his face off. "Do you know how hard it is to find halfway decent minions?"

Xander brought his arms up to shield his face. When she grabbed onto him, he peeked through his forearms to see her steadying herself in preparation for kneeing him in the crotch. Bringing his leg across in a defensive manner, he managed to deflect the crippling blow, but not without cost. He'd be limping for a while after that shot.

"Now _that's _just dirty fighting!" He snarled. Shooting his arms out and twisting them around hers, he locked her hands under his armpits. Pushing her back, he twirled them both about until their positions were reversed. Shifting into his own vampiric visage, he head butted her. Hard. And with her own head pushed up flush against the cave walls, there was nowhere for her to recoil.

**CRACK!**

**CRACK!**

_**CRUNCH!**_

On the third blow, the back of her skull crumpled inwards, and she went limp in his arms. Letting her drop bonelessly to the floor, he returned his attention to the two remaining vampires. "Next!" He challenged, wearing the expression that had haunted Buffy for weeks after he had threatened to kill her that time in the library.

The one on the floor was still trying to recover from having his ribcage crushed, while the other had apparently fled. "Smart." Xander commented as he withdrew another stake from his coat and dusted the vamp in front of him.

"H-How?" He spun about to see that the female vampire had somehow managed to sit up a little in the few seconds he had been busy dealing with her former comrades.

"'How', what? How did a fledgling like me take apart four vamps in as many minutes?"

She nodded.

Xander withdrew his battleaxe from underneath the trench coat and walked back over to her. "Like you said, I was pals with the Slayer. Which means that I've watched her train and fight for nearly three years. I even played her punching bag on the odd occasion when Giles wasn't up to it. Combine that with the fact that I've been possessed at least twice in the past by things that _like _to fight, and well…"

"Fuck." She grimaced. "We never stood a chance, did we?"

"Not really." He shrugged. "Someone, another vamp actually, recently told me that I had a lot of potential hidden in me. I guess you and yours got to be the first to see it start to come out."

"Lucky us." She spat. "Make it quick, you bastard."

"I was planning to." Xander replied as he swung the axe at her throat.

* * *

Stowing the weapon once again, Xander brushed himself off. Looking about, he spotted the tracks left by the fleeing vamp and followed them. _'Maybe they'll lead me out of this maze.' _Was his reasoning. He had barely been walking a couple of minutes when what just happened finally hit him:

'_Holy shit! I just took down four vamps faster than Buffy __ever__ did! __Without__ raising a sweat!'_

Xander stood there, trying to process that thought. It wasn't easy, despite what anyone that heard his earlier trash-talking might think. He was the Zeppo. The distraction. The decoy. The go-to guy for snacks. Sure, he'd taken the odd vampire out on his own. Usually from behind. And he'd backed off Angelus once or twice. But this…

This was going to take some serious getting used to.

Eventually, the vampire tracks he had been following led him to a point where the walls changed from stone to brick. _'Finally! Hit the sewer system.' _He mused impatiently. _'About damn time!' _Shortly after, he spotted a manhole cover and cautiously lifted the edge up an inch. _'Cool, it's the warehouse district.' _Grinning, he effortlessly lifted the cover and crawled out. Replacing it, he got his bearings and picked a direction. "Oh yeah, just after dark. Who da man!" He grinned to himself. "First up, find something to feed on. Then, new duds. After that, a bit of recon." With a predatory glint in his eyes, the former Zeppo moved off into the shadows.

* * *

A few hours later found Xander sitting in the rearmost booth of that rarest of Sunnydale creatures, an all-night diner, quietly sipping a hot chocolate and pondering his current predicament once again.

"Damned Hyena." He muttered. As soon as he had decided to feed before anything else, that old, terrifyingly familiar feeling had suffused his mind. Drawing upon the remnants of his soldier possession, his own personal experiences observing how vampires hunt and the Hyena spirit, he had quickly selected the weakest of the human herd he could find and separated them from the rest through a combination of a feigned need for assistance and intimidation. After that, it was only a matter of wedging the bodies into hard to find spaces and escaping across the rooftops.

While he was disgusted with himself for so quickly succumbing to the need for blood, there was no real self-loathing. "I wonder if this is what a sociopath feels like? I know what I'm doing is wrong, but I can't find it within myself to…_care_, I guess." He shrugged slightly. "Yet, I still feel strongly protective about Wills. And to a lesser extent, the other Scoobies. Why do you think that is, Lizzie?" Xander directed his question to the entity trying to quietly approach him from the side without even looking at her.

Elizabeth Winters, three hundred year old master vampire and Xander's _sire_, stiffened with surprise. Her _childe _was exceeding her expectations to a disturbing degree. While she _had _known that he would not destroy himself as he threatened to the night before, she had _not _expected to have such difficulty in tracking him tonight. Not only that, but he had fed, repeatedly, without being caught, as well as hiding the bodies in such a way that they would not be found in the near future, thus ensuring that he could not be connected with them. He was wearing different clothing to the night before, and he had gotten money from somewhere. He was behaving like a mature vampire with years of experience, and _not _as the day-old fledgling that he was.

"Good evening Xander. May I sit?" She asked politely. Receiving an indifferent nod, she deposited herself into the chair opposite her _childe _and stared at him intently. "How has your night been, so far?"

Xander grinned. "You should know. You've been trying to track me for most of it." As her eyes widened alarmingly, his grin grew wider. "What, you didn't think that I'd hear you sneaking around in the background like a rat?"

Elizabeth was both appalled and excited by his admission. "H-How did you-"

"Remember, I've been possessed by a hyena spirit in my time. Those guys are better hunters and trackers than lions, you know. Plus, the soldier in me knows when he's being watched by unfriendlies."

"You consider me unfriendly?" She frowned, a little hurt by his statement.

"Well, you did kill me." Xander shrugged. "I usually have issues with creatures that try to do that to me."

"But it was for your own good." She pleaded, trying to defend her actions.

"Yeah, that's what my dad used to say too, usually just after he beat the shit out of me for something."

Elizabeth stiffened at being put in the same category with Anthony Harris. "I notice that your parents are no longer in residence at your home."

"Please! That wasn't my home, it was just the place where I kept my stuff." Xander snorted.

"Why did they leave town like that? Or did you kill them."

"Yes and no." Xander answered. "Mom didn't take to well to me explaining the truth about the nightlife in Sunnydale." He smirked. "But, in the end she believed me. 'Course, it helped my case when I drained dear old Dad in front of her right before we talked." Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a crumpled letter and waved it slightly. "Apparently, she packed up and left during the day and headed for her sister's place in Ohio. Pretty smart really."

Elizabeth stared at him, still a little shell-shocked at her _childe's_ actions. "And what did you do with your father's body?"

"Huh? Oh, I took him to the zoo and fed him to the Hyenas."

She blinked, hard.

"Hey, just varying their diet a little. And, y'know, helping out the old pack." He grinned in a feral manner.

Elizabeth nodded, wondering aloud why none of her fellow vampires had ever thought of feeding the bodies of their victims to the predators at the Sunnydale Zoo.

"Probably because most vamps are pure Id, and don't really care what happens to their meals after their finished with them."

"And you do?"

Xander thought about it for a moment. "Dunno. But I'm not exactly a normal vamp now, am I?" He let his face change briefly to accentuate his point.

"Indeed." Elizabeth agreed, a part of her quietly starting to wonder whether she may have been a little _too _presumptuous in turning the young man before her. "What are your plans for the rest of the night?"

"Why don't you tell me what you have in mind, and I'll let you know if I can fit you in."

* * *

An hour later found Xander following his _sire _into an abandoned warehouse. _'Like there is any other type in Sunnydale.' _He mused to himself as he walked into a room that contained about a dozen vampires. _'And while we're on the subject; zero points for lair originality! It's a sad day in Sunnyhell when I have to give Captain Forehead props for his choice of housing.' _He grumbled internally.

"These are my children." She waved expansively towards the assembled vampires. "Some followed me when Kakistos was destroyed. Others we have created since then. All are loyal to me." She finished proudly.

"Yay." Xander whispered sarcastically. As the master vampire walked further into the room, a few of her followers approached and began circling him, causing his hackles to rise. The incident with the other group of vamps he had met earlier was still fresh in his mind. "Uh, hello?"

"So what's so special about this one, Miss Winters?" A younger male asked with a slight pout.

"Other than the fact that he's a bit of a cutie." A female giggled as she openly ogled Xander's body.

A second, older looking male leant in for a quick sniff. "His scent is weird."

"Back off fang face!" Xander turned around quickly, trying to track the three vampires at once. He was becoming disconcerted by the random invasions of his personal space.

Elizabeth heard him growl softly, and noted that Xander's eyes were starting to flash green. When she saw his hand begin to move towards the inside of his trench coat, and correctly fearing whatever he might have hidden under there, she quickly ordered her minions to step away from him. "That's enough, children. Xander is still new to being a vampire. We have a lot to fill him in on." Taking his hand, she introduced him to each of her minions before leading him towards a leather lounge in the centre of the room and seating him next to her. Most of the other vampires wandered away to do their own thing. Only the young pouty vamp and the female who had openly leered at him stayed nearby as Elizabeth began speaking.

Xander kept quiet, quelling his impulse to blurt out that after the last three years he probably has a better idea of what it is to be a vampire than them. He was willing to sit through the mind-numbingly boring explanation though, just in case they had anything new to say.

* * *

"…and that is everything you should need to allow yourself to survive in this new existence. Any questions?" Elizabeth Winters finished up and stared at him expectantly.

'_Well, that was a complete waste of time.' _Xander groused to himself as the hour long discourse wound up. He was both relieved and surprised. Relieved, because there was nothing new in her little speech. And surprised, because there were actually a few things that she hadn't mentioned that he knew to be fact. "Uh, no actually. Most of what you said fits in with what I've learnt over the past couple of years." The faintest glimmerings of a plan were teasing around the edges of his consciousness.

"Oh." Elizabeth was nonplussed. Usually, she couldn't shut a fledgling up after her little speech. And most of the questions were of the asinine kind, like whether they could fly, or turn into mist, or any of the other rubbish Hollywood had pushed onto the general public over the past few decades. More than one fledgling had been staked by their _sire _when they lost their patience during the first few days of their _childes _unlife. _'Remember what he was before you turned him, Elizabeth. Remember __**why**__ you turned him.'_ She mentally chided herself.

"And why would you know anything about us, newbie?" The young vampire from before, Carl was his name, challenged Xander. "Just cause you've seen a few vampire movies, doesn't mean you know squat about _us_." He gestured to his fellow undead.

Xander smirked. "I know, _leech_, because I've been hanging out with the Slayer since junior year. Which means I've been staking things like _you_ on a nightly basis for ages." He boasted, exaggerating a little. Image and power was everything when it came to dealing with vamps, he'd found.

"_**WHAT!**_" That shout came not just from Carl, but from every other vampire still in the room.

"Oh, hadn't you told them that yet?" Xander asked his _sire _innocently.

'_Oh bugger!' _Elizabeth breathed silently. She had not wanted that particular nugget of information to come out until she had time to ease him into her pack. Her decision to stalk and turn him had been a private undertaking between her and the two other Master Vampires she had allied herself with briefly. None of her pack had known about it.

"You…you turned a friend of the Slayer, Miss Winters?" Carl asked, appalled. Despite his youthful appearance, he was actually the second-oldest vampire there, after his Master. "Are you _insane? _What if she comes after us?"

Before she could open her mouth, Xander started talking, "First of all, Buffy and the others are still in shock from seeing me turned, so they're not going to be operating at one hundred percent for a _long _while. Second, they only know who turned _me_, not where I am. And third, why do you give a flying fuck anyway? I thought you answered to her, not the other way around." He finished snidely, pointing at his sire.

Carl was nearly showing colour, he was so furious. No-one, especially not a day old vampire, talked to him like that. "Now listen here, you little shit. Who the fuck do you think you are?!" He demanded as he strode over to Xander and tried to stare him down.

"Who am I?" Xander looked back at the angry vampire blandly. "I'm the guy that's been staking vamps for two years plus, starting with someone who was my brother in every way but blood. I'm the guy who came up with the idea _and _the weapon to take down The Judge. I'm the guy who gave the world _two _Slayers, and walked into the Master's lair to do it. I'm the guy whose taken on the Order of Teraka, the Sisterhood of Ghi, all four of the Scourges of Europe at one time or another, including Angelus twice. I've done all that, and more, while being nothing more than a _mere _human. You wouldn't have scared me then. What the hell makes you think that you have any chance of intimidating me now?" By now, Xander had worked himself up enough that he had changed into his game face, flashing green eyes and all, while shouting in to the other vampire's face as he loomed over him.

"_Mater Christi_." An exotic looking woman near the back of the room whispered, before looking to Elizabeth for confirmation. "Is he speaking the truth?"

When she nodded, the room filled with excited mutterings.

Carl, on the other hand, gulped. This 'boy' standing over him was a hunter, and a damn good one to have survived doing this from such a young age. "So, now that your one of us, are you going to help us hunt the Slayer and her other friends down?" He asked in a much more respectful tone.

Xander smirked internally. His gamble had paid off. While he had done, or been involved in, everything he had said, he had been a lot more scared than he had let on to his audience. Now, they feared _him_, or at least would walk a bit more softly around him. It would give him the breathing space he needed to continue adapting to his new existence. "Nah."

Carl frowned. "Why not? She is our natural enemy."

Xander shrugged. "And she wants me blowing in the wind more than anything in the world, now that I'm a threat to her. What's your point?"

"She's the Slayer!" Carl shouted, as if that explained everything.

"Really? Wow, ya learn something new every day." Xander grinned.

"_RRRARRRHH!_" Carl finally lost his patience with the fledgling before him, and charged with game face showing.

Xander, not losing his grin, calmly side-stepped the charging vampire, then grabbed his collar and slammed him into the ground on his back. Hard. Before the other vamp could react, Xander dropped his heel into the prone vamp's chest. Hearing ribs crack, he genuinely smiled as he withdrew a stake from the depths of his cloak and dropped a knee into the ribs he had just broken before crouching over Carl and positioning the stake directly over his heart. The whole thing had taken place in slightly under five seconds.

"Now, whatever your name is." Xander looked up at Elizabeth. "What's his name?" He tapped the vampire pinned beneath him with the stake lightly.

"C-Carl." She stammered slightly. _'How can he move so fast?'_

"Carl. Right." Xander turned back to the nervous vampire underneath him, whose eyes were totally focussed on the piece of wood resting not so gently against his chest despite the pain he was in. "Now, Carl. I _understand _that Buffy is the Slayer. I also understand that she has a habit of surviving, despite what has been thrown at her in the past few years. I should know, because I've helped her survive it on occasion. She is almost unique in the history of Slayers." Xander looked up and caught the eye of every vampire in the room in one sweeping glance. "She has friends. She has an exceptionally loyal support group behind her. She protects them. They protect her. _And I am not going to face her without a damn good reason_. It's called a sense of self-preservation. While vamps don't normally possess one, _I do_! So, until I can get out of town, and away from her, I am not going to do anything to put myself in her way. _**Deal with it**_!"

* * *

More notes: Next chapter, Xander's going to drop in and reconnect with his friends for a bit.


	8. Chapter 7

BAD XANDER

By: Tezza1502

Disclaimer: I don't own the TV show known as 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.' I just write fan fiction.

Notes: Xander goes visiting...

* * *

CHAPTER 8:- Hey Boys.

A week or three had passed since Xander's little pissing match with Master Vampire Elizabeth Winter's cadre. Since then, they had been giving him a wide berth.

Well, most of them.

The female vamp who had taken such initial interest in him when he first showed up with Winters had continued to do so. Apparently, she was one of those vampires who truly enjoyed flirting with dangerous beings. And considering that Xander was a hunter before he was turned into whatever type of vampire variant he was now, he pushed her buttons even more. It had been only a matter of time before he'd decided "What the Heck?", and took her up on her rather blatant offer. _'Besides, it's about damn time my ability to attract demonic women was put to good use!' _He'd sighed pleasantly after she had invited him to her room one night.

"So?" She asked, propping herself up on an elbow so she could look down on Xander in the bed they were currently sharing.

"_'So', _what?"

"So, isn't it better than when you were just a human?"

Xander smirked at her through a half-opened eyelid. "'Bout the same, actually."

"WHAT!" The vampire, Shelley was her name, shrieked. "I am ten times as strong and responsive as any bloodbag you ever slept with. How can fucking me be the same as one of _them_?"

Xander's shit-eating grin widened. "Because the first and last person I slept with was a Slayer." Seeing her eyes bulge with shock, he continued, "However, since you haven't kicked me out of the room straight after in just my boxers, you're one up on her."

Shelley continued to stare at him in shock. "EEWWW! Slayer germs." She shouted as she jumped up and ran for her shower, scratching at herself furiously as she went.

Xander raised an eyebrow at her antics. _'Slayer germs? Jeez, how old was __she__ when she was turned?' _He shook his head as he decided to follow her in to the bathroom. As he entered, she frowned at him from under a spray of water.

"EW! I can't believe you slept with that bleached blonde midget!"

"What?!" Xander almost laughed at her when she shouted that. "No, I didn't sleep with Buffy. I slept with Faith."

"Faith? She's the one who's working for the Mayor now, right?" Shelley paused her furious scrubbing when Xander nodded affirmative. "Oh. Well, that's okay then." With that, she stepped out of the shower and draped her dripping wet self over him.

"Huh?"

Shelley grinned at him with relief. "She's pretty cool, despite being a Slayer an' all." Before Xander could process that, she asked how it happened in a perky manner.

"Oh, uh, it seems that some Slayers get pretty turned on by all the fighting and staking and such. I just happened to be nearby when she got the itch once." He shrugged. "It could have happened to anyone, from what she's said on the subject before."

"Oh well, lucky you I guess. Was she good?" She asked coyly.

"You were better." Xander resisted the urge to roll his eyes. _'Like I'd answer any other way. I'm not __that__ stupid.' _He grinned internally as she squealed with delight before probing his mouth with her tongue. This led to them both entering the shower for further 'washing'.

* * *

"So, are you feeding with the rest of us tonight?" Shelley asked diffidently as they dressed. Ever since Xander had been introduced to the rest of Winter's pack, he had only joined them when his _sire _insisted on it. The rest of his time was spent going out alone, doing his own thing.

A few of the others, especially Carl, had tried to follow him the first few nights. It never worked. Somehow Xander would spot them and lead them all over Sunnydale on a wild goose chase. Or, if he was feeling particularly playful, he would lead them straight across the path of the Slayer. After the fourth time this happened, they gave up. They refused to lose any more of their cadre, since Winters was rather particular about who they turned.

"Nah. Got some old friends to see tonight." Xander admitted as he tied his shoelaces up.

"Going to drain them, or turn them?" She asked innocently. Xander grinned evilly at her by way of an answer.

_'Does she really think I'm going to open my soul to her just because we've been bumping uglys together the last couple of weeks? Lizzie's gonna have to do more than throw a nice piece of ass my way to get into __my__ head.' _He chuckled to himself as he threw on his trench coat and stalked into the night.

* * *

Rupert Giles was poring over a disappointingly abbreviated map of Sunnydale's sewer system while sipping on some thirty-year-old Glenlivet, trying to figure out where their former comrade might be hiding. According to the information they had 'requested' from Willy, he had been spotted roaming far and wide across Sunnydale these past weeks, with no discernable pattern. Other than to occasionally lead vampires across Buffy's path, at least. _'Even then, he'd stated rather blithely to Buffy that he was only doing that to get them off his trail.' _It was quite devious really. Not only does Xander get rid of a nuisance without risking himself, but it throws Buffy further off her game, trying to fathom if he's doing it for a reason, or just for kicks.

_'Damn you boy, do you have to be quite so good at this?' _He groaned to himself in frustration. Along with Cordelia, Giles understood that there was more to Xander than just the face they saw. The boy would not bed down somewhere obvious, like Willow and Buffy seemed to be hoping. He had been fighting against the night almost as long as Buffy herself. He would not be found slumbering in an open crypt in one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries like a normal fledgling.

A loud pounding on his door nearly made him spill his scotch over the maps in front of him. Downing the rest of it in one mouthful, he strode over to the door with the full intention of using the empty glass in his hand to open a vein or two upon whomever was disturbing his evening. Reaching the door, he flung it wide open and hissed, "_**Yes!**_"

His visitor waved at him cheerfully. "Hey G-man! Got time for a chat between cups of tea?"

Rupert gulped as he withdrew a step. "Xa...Xander!"

"That's my name, Rupes. Glad to see you remember. Can I come in?" The former Scooby asked in his normal, cheerful tone.

Rupert came within a hairs breath of saying 'yes' out of sheer habit. "N-No, I don't believe so."

"Darn. Worth a shot." Xander snapped his fingers with exaggerated annoyance. "Guess we'll just have to have a conversation like uncivilised folk, out here on the doorstep huh." He proceeded to squat down on his haunches. "C'mon, take a load off." He gestured to the floor on the inside of the doorway.

"I think I would prefer to stand, thank you."

"Fair enough." Xander shrugged. "Don't want those knees of yours blowing out on you. I hear that can happen a lot when you get to be your age." He smirked up from his position on Giles' doormat.

_'At least __that__ hasn't changed. Xander still possesses the knack of being able to annoy any being that comes into range, it seems.' _The older man mused sourly. "Why are you here?" Rupert demanded.

"Well, I just want to clear the air between us, Rupert old boy." He replied in a horrible English accent. "By now, Wills has told you about my little visit to her, and what I asked her to look up for me." He raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yes." Came the succinct reply.

"Any luck there yet? Between her and Oz, Buffy's been keeping Willow on a pretty tight leash, so I haven't had the chance to drop in for a visit lately without it getting messy."

"Understandable, don't you think." Rupert retorted sharply.

"Only if I was actually a threat to her." Xander shot back. "I had my chance to turn her, _and _her parents. I didn't. That should tell you something right there."

The older man snorted. "Only that you have something in mind, and that turning her is not a part of it yet."

Xander rubbed a hand over his face in frustration. "Buy a clue, Giles! I'm not Angelus. I don't go in for playing petty games and fucking with people's heads."

"Xander didn't indulge in that, true." Rupert allowed. "But you are _not _Xander. You are merely a demon wearing his body."

"Don't be too sure about that, Rupes. That's a part of what I want Willow to look into for me."

"Keeping her busy. Keeping her hopes alive, along with the rest of us. Distracting us from the Mayor, as well as whatever _you _might have planned." Giles countered.

Xander sighed heavily. "That's one possibility, I guess. Another one, is that I am only hanging around until our most recent big bad is six feet under, then I'm _outahere_." He mimed hitting a baseball over the back fence. "I don't have any reason to come after you guys. I don't want you to end up like me. Like this." He waved down at himself. "After Jessie was turned, I swore I wouldn't end up the same way. And now that I _have _been turned, I don't wish for any harm to come to you guys. You leave me be, an' I'll leave you be."

Rupert frowned. "If anything of Xander survives within you, you know that we can not do that."

"I understand, Ripper. Really, I do." Xander looked depressed. "But, _you _need to understand something as well." Suddenly, he leapt to his feet and grabbed Giles by the throat. Bringing him nose to nose with himself over the threshold of the doorway, he allowed his face to change. "Don't give me cause to get nasty. You can't hide from me, and you won't like the consequences." Throwing a wide-eyed, sputtering Watcher back into his house, he winked and shut the door before striding away towards his next target.

* * *

Oz scanned the street up and down from his girlfriend's house before quickly shutting the front door behind him. He and Buffy had been taking turns spending as much of the night with her as her parents would allow in the hope of keeping Xander away from her. Between them, they had just about worn out their welcome. From _all _of the Rosenbergs.

"I don't care how annoyed she gets with us, Willow is not going to be left alone to be easy prey for Xander." He muttered to himself as he unlocked his van and climbed into the front seat. It was a measure of how frazzled he was getting, this talking out loud to himself. Next thing you know, he'll be having complete conversations with people.

He drew the seatbelt over his shoulder and was just about to click it into place, when he noticed that he had a passenger.

"BOO!" Xander shouted.

Oz didn't make a sound. However, he did slam into the car door like he'd been shot into it by a cannon.

"Hey little buddy. How ya doin'?" The recently turned Scooby asked conversationally.

"Been better." Oz replied with barely a waver in his voice.

"Amen to that, brother." Xander agreed cheerfully.

"What do you want?"

Xander looked at Oz as his expression abruptly faded into seriousness. "For you to never hurt Willow like I have." He replied, to Oz's complete surprise. "Can you do that?"

The young werewolf examined Xander's face carefully for any sign that he was messing with him. Seeing that he still looked deadly serious, Oz nodded slowly.

"Good!" Xander smiled. "'Cause if ya do, I'll be the last thing you see. Ever!"

"Why do you care?" Oz asked suddenly.

Xander sighed deeply. "Why should I tell you?"

"Because Willow is tying herself up in knots over you. And I hate seeing my _girlfriend _turn herself inside out over someone who isn't worth it anymore."

The vampire in the passenger seat raised an eyebrow in amusement. "It's not getting close to your time of the month, is it? 'Cause I think I've got something here to relieve the symptoms if you need it. Cramps. Swelling. General moodiness and the like." He made a show of patting his pockets.

"You look like him, but your not him. Not where it counts." Oz almost growled.

"And you're _so _sure about that."

"You're a vampire. Xander's not home anymore. Just a monster wearing his face."

"Wow. You mean someone actually listened to me when I went off on one of my 'Why-We-Should-Hate-Angel' rants?" Xander looked vaguely impressed for a second, before continuing, "And if that's really the case, answer me this; If I'm not Xander, why do I feel ashamed about how I broke Cordy's heart? Why can't I be in the same room with you and not think I betrayed your trust by kissing Wills? Why have I not just taken the Scoobies out yet? And I've had my chances in the last couple of weeks. When you and Willow were getting busy around the corner from the theatre the other night being a prime example."

Oz twitched at that. Neither of them had noticed _any _demonic presence while they were engaged in an impromptu make-out session in the alley behind the theatre.

"Why do I feel as if I still have to look out for my pack-mates, when I should be feeding on you instead?"

Daniel Osbourne's ears pricked up at that. "Pack-mates?"

Xander chuckled ruefully. "The vampire essence in me is only the latest of a long line of possessions. Remember?"

"So...what are you trying to say?"

"Nothing." He shrugged. "I've been mutated once and possessed at least twice in my life so far. What effect would _that _have on a low-level demonic essence like a vampire's? Would it alter the process of turning someone? And if so, how much of Me would be left intact afterwards? _That's _what I have Wills looking into."

Oz turned that over in his mind, trying to figure out if the being next to him had a valid point or not. "Hnh?"

Xander nodded primly. "My thoughts on the matter exactly."

They both stayed silent for a while.

"So what happens now?" Oz asked finally.

"You and Buffy stop acting so jealous about me having some Willow-time so she and I can talk."

Oz shook his head. "I mean right now. In the next five minutes."

"Are you going to ease up?"

"Would you in my place?"

Xander paused. "Probably not." He admitted.

"So..."

"So, I guess we see where the chips fall." Xander opened his door and got out. "Stay safe, man. See ya around." Closing the van door gently, he waved over his shoulder as he walked away towards his next meeting, humming 'Of Wolf And Man' cheerfully at full volume. (Copyright:- METALLICA.)

"Damn." Oz breathed heavily as the other man vanished into the night. Reaching over with shaking hands, he checked to make sure that the small crosses he had attached to both the back and the bottom of the passenger side seat were still there. He had done it ages ago, at Xander's suggestion ironically, as a way of distracting any vampire who happened to try and jump him from that direction. Xander must have known that they were still there, yet he still sat on them, without any apparent effect.

"How the...?" The young bass guitarist shook his head in puzzlement, trying to figure out why the holy icons had failed to work on Xander, and whether it leant any credence to the theory that he might not be as dead as they had all been assuming.

* * *

Xander watched his prey. He had been stalking the last of this night's targets without it being any wiser to his presence. At least, his target had not given any _noticeable _sign that he was being followed. But, Xander had learnt long ago that this one was a superb actor when he wanted to be.

"You can come out now, Xander." Angel's voice carried easily through the night.

"Lemme guess. You spotted me five minutes ago, when I first started tracking you."

"Try ten." Angel retorted smugly.

_'Try half an hour!' _Xander came back internally.

"So, how's this gonna play?" The two-hundred and forty-eight year old vampire asked as he carefully placed his bottles of pigs blood on the ground and stepped away from it.

"Depends on you." His much younger opponent answered. "You going to stand still while I beat the crap out of you for a while?"

"Unlikely."

"Pity." Xander frowned. "It would make things a lot easier."

"Look Xander, I'm sorry this happened. It wasn't supposed to be this way." Angel stated, sounding genuinely apologetic.

"Yeah, my Mom used to tell me the same thing every time Dad put me in the hospital." Xander replied evenly. "Doesn't change the way it all turned out, does it?"

"So...what? Are you going to try and kill me now?"

"Tempting." Xander stroked his chin in thought. "Very tempting. But, if I dust _you_, then Buffy will make it her mission to hunt me down." He frowned. "Even more than it is now, that is."

_'Doubt it.'_ Angel thought sourly, recalling the few conversations he'd had with the blond Slayer since the man before him had been turned.

"And that will make my life just that much more complicated. So...nah!"

"So, why are you here then?" Angel asked.

"Because I really, _really_, don't like you." With that, Xander's face changed and he sprang forward.

The ensouled vampire barely managed to slide out of the way of his opponent's charge, resisting the urge to slip into his own vampiric visage. _'So he wants a piece of me, huh? Lets see what he's got then.' _Angel thought as he dodged Xander's wild swipes.

After a few minutes of near misses and glancing blows, Angel stopped being so worried about the outcome of the fight. From what Buffy had said about their encounter that first night in the warehouse, he had been expecting more from the fledgling. _'I guess she was just unsettled about coming face to face with him like that, and he got a lucky hit in.' _He mused. _'Hopefully she won't hate me too much for dusting him now.' _The thought of having to end Xander's existence brought an unexpected wave of moroseness over him.

Despite how the two of them have interacted in the past, there was a part of him that was rather glad that the boy had never fully trusted him, the way Buffy had. It was good that at least one of the Scoobies had been willing to defy Buffy over him when necessary. That had been one of the few bearable thoughts available to him while Angelus was in the driver's seat, that Xander wouldn't hesitate to do what was necessary, and take him out if he got a chance.

Buffy couldn't. Willow wouldn't, because of her loyalty to her best female friend. Oz and Cordelia were not capable. And it took the death of Jenny Calendar for Giles to become willing to risk losing his Slayer over him.

_**CRACK**_

"Pay attention!" Xander yelled.

A backhand to his jaw snapped Angel out of his thoughts. He ducked under the foot swinging for his head, only to catch the heel in his face as Xander reversed the move impossibly. The powerful shot knocked him spinning into the ground.

_'Impossible for a __**human**__, you idiot!' _He grumbled to himself. _'He isn't one. Not anymore.' _Scowling, he rolled away in time to avoid the foot aimed at his ribs and sprang to his feet again. "Not bad boy." He paused as he rubbed his jaw. It was an action that cost him.

Xander used the action to partially mask the uppercut he threw, increasing his speed past what he had been using against Angel so far in the fight. While Angel's head was still looking skyward, he peppered his chest with full power jabs that cracked a couple of ribs. And when Angel finally gathered his wits enough to take a swing at him, Xander caught it and held his arm up while dropping a stake out of his sleeve and ramming it into the side of Angel's chest, just under his armpit.

"AAARRGH!"

"Oh I'm sorry, did that hurt?" Xander asked facetiously, not letting go of the sliver of wood imbedded in his opponents side, mere centimetres from his heart. Twisting the arm he held, he forced Angel to his knees. "Oh stop twitching ya big girl."

Swallowing down both the groan and the fear fighting to escape him, Angel turned his head awkwardly to face the other man. "You played me." He gasped, realising suddenly that the wild swings Xander had been throwing at him before were meant to make him think of Xander as the way he had been _before _he was turned.

"Yeah, I did." Xander smiled as he locked Angel's arm so he couldn't get free without twisting it off. "Feeling stupid yet?"

"A little." He grimaced. He could feel the stake moving inside him, dangerously close to his heart. "I thought you weren't going to kill me."

"I'm not." The other vampire replied simply. "But you've been a thorn in my side ever since you showed up. I just thought I'd give you a taste of what it was like from my perspective."

"XANDER!" A sudden shout from down the street drew their attention.

"Oh goody, your girlfriend's here to save the day." Xander quipped as Buffy charged towards them, stake drawn and a feral expression on her face.

Waiting until the last moment, when Buffy had actually started her strike at him, Xander whipped Angel around into the path of the stake. Releasing the other vampire, he watched as the Slayer impaled her former lover through the shoulder while she ploughed into him and planted them both on the ground in a tangle of limbs.

"Ah yes, poetry in motion. The mark of any Slayer." Xander chuckled as he turned and headed off in to the shadows. "Catch you later, kids! Don't forget to use protection."

By the time Buffy untangled herself from Angel, her target was long gone. "Damnit!" She fumed. Turning her attention back to her former paramour, her expression visibly alternating between scowling at him and frowning with worry. Eventually, she extended a hand. "Are you okay?"

Angel glared up at her. "Guess!" Wincing, he extracted the piece of wood she had stabbed him with from his shoulder. The same shoulder Xander had been busy trying to unscrew from the rest of his body. "How...?"

"He's been busy tonight." Buffy replied curtly, torn between fretting over his injuries and hating his existence for his part in this whole mess. "Giles got a visit from him earlier, and Oz says he was in his van not an hour ago. I figured you might be next on his list."

"Uh-huh. Could you...?" He looked pointedly at the stake still lodged in his ribs. And winced as she pulled it out. "Ow! So why the panic to find me?" He asked, confused. He doubted that she had forgiven him yet.

Buffy allowed some of the dread she was feeling to show. "Because at Giles' place he reached in through the front door, _without _an invitation. And Oz said that he was sitting on a seat cover soaked with holy water and covered with crosses without even wincing." Buffy looked at him. "Have you ever heard of a vampire being able to do that before? Ever!"

Angel looked in the direction Xander had gone, beginning to feel some of the same dread Buffy was. "No."

* * *

**_-CHAPTER END-_**

* * *

More Notes: Somewhere in season... Two, I think, of 'Angel: the series', Angel propped himself on one arm in the middle of a doorway, against thin air, upon the barrier that prevented him from entering someone's abode uninvited. In fact, when the person who's room he was trying to enter died, the barrier vanished, and he fell into the room in a heap.

The reason I mention that, is because I'm pretty sure it is impossible, in the BtVS series, for a vampire to reach through and grab someone through the doorway. No part of a vampire could cross the threshold of a home. So what Xander did in this chapter to Giles should have been impossible.

I guess I'm saying that there is a reason for it. I didn't screw up writing the chapter, or forget about that fact.

It's all a part of the plan! ; )


	9. Chapter 8

BAD XANDER

By: Tezza1502

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy and friends. Joss & Co do.

Notes: Had a visit from the Apathy Fairy about a month ago. It's still here, I've just managed to distract it momentarily with a plate of donuts and a milkshake. Here's a chapter while I'm able.

* * *

CHAPTER 9- Hey Girls.

Xander whistled as he walked through the darkened streets of his home town, wondering if Buffy would figure out where he was heading next tonight. _'Nah, she'll be too busy trying to take care of the pincushion while trying to look like she doesn't care whether he's injured or not.' _He smirked.

He'd figured that the first thing Giles and Oz would do after his little visits would be to call Buffy. And that the first thing _she'd _do would be to run to her Ex and check if he was alright. _'Y'know, just in case nasty ol' me decided to dust him.' _He chuckled. _'Can't have widdle ol' Angie-wangie getting a splinter, can we.'_

Sighing once again over the absurdity of a Slayer worrying about the continued existence of a vampire, he sobered up and headed for his next target. _'After all, she won't dare bring him back home to bandage him up. So I'll have plenty of time to talk.'_

* * *

Joyce Summers was sitting at her kitchen table, wondering what had caused her daughter to fly out of the door at such high speeds less than an hour ago. _'Probably something to do with another Xander sighting.' _She sighed.

It had been a very trying couple of weeks for the Scoobies, and her in particular. Since she was the only _approachable _adult who knew about Sunnydale's nightlife, Buffy's friends had been coming to her as a sounding board for all their fears. And since she knew that she was the only parent that any of them had that was actually _willing _to be a parent in more than just name, it made her more amenable to being the shoulder they cried upon from time to time.

"Poor Cordelia." She muttered. Out of all of them, Joyce felt that the Queen of Sunnydale High had been taking Xander's turning the worst. In some way, the girl felt just as responsible for it as Buffy, Giles and Angel.

If she had just been a little more forgiving of him. If she had just been willing to admit that the fluke was as much Willow's fault as Xander's. If she had just taken him back like she had wanted to, instead of listening to Harmony and the other Cordettes and using that whole episode as an excuse to get back with the 'In' crowd. If she had only known ahead of time that she was going to end up as poor as he was.

Cordelia had spilled that last fact out to Joyce one night while Buffy was out on patrol. Her father was under investigation by the IRS for tax evasion, and it looked like her family was going to lose everything.

"I wonder how Xander would take that news?" She muttered quietly while sipping her chamomile tea.

"What news?" Came a familiar voice from the back door.

"That Cordelia's family is probably going to lose everything in an IRS audit." Mrs. Summers answered. Then she realised who she had just spoken to and blanched. "_Xander?_"

"Hey Joyce. Hows things?" Xander asked as he finished letting himself inside the Summer's residence. "By the way, you should really keep your doors locked. This isn't the town to trust the night in."

Joyce sprung to her feet and stepped quickly to the opposite side of the table from him. "H-How...?"

"Did I get in without an invite? Dunno." He shrugged as he took a seat at the table she had just vacated. "It's one of the things Willow's supposed to be looking in to for me." Seeing the woman he still considered to be his mother edging for the knife rack, Xander tried to reassure her. "Joyce, please. You are in no danger from me. Now or ever."

Joyce watched him as he spoke, seeing the familiar body language of one Alexander Harris easily. "Would you give me your word on that?"

Xander chuckled mirthlessly. "As much as the word of a vampire counts for anything, I swear by everything that I hold sacred that I mean you no harm. Ever." He looked her in the eyes steadily as he spoke.

Joyce was in a quandary. Everything she had been told by Giles, her daughter and Xander himself screamed at her to try and run for it. Vampires are not to be trusted.

Yet, she knew Xander. Knew him as well as his own mother should. When he gave his word, he would defy Heaven, Earth and Prophecy to keep it.

"Okay." Swallowing loudly, and hoping that she had not just made a decision that would orphan Buffy, Joyce sat down at the opposite end of the table and pulled her unfinished cup of tea over to her. "What can I do for you, Xander?"

Seeing her sit, he let out an unnecessary breath and smiled reassuringly at the older woman. "Actually, I'm really not sure." Blinking, he wiped a red tear away. "I think I've just missed seeing you and talking to you."

"...Xander?"

"I...I just..." Turning away from her, he began wiping furiously at his face. "Oh God Joyce, I've become the thing I hate the most in all the world. Most of my friends want me dead. The vampire that turned me wants me to become the undead version of Alexander the Great. I've been killing at least two people a night just to stay alive, and it scares me that it doesn't trouble me _at all _to have to do that. I don't know who I am anymore, and I'm frightened that I'm going to snap soon and start attacking you guys. I..."

Joyce was around the table by this time, sweeping him up into a comforting hug. When he felt this, he finally lost control of his emotions, and broke down completely.

* * *

Many minutes later, Xander started to regain his self-control. "...thanks. I've been missing that." He sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve.

"Here." Joyce reached behind her and grabbed some tissues off the kitchen bench. "No use making a mess of that nice trench coat."

Xander nodded sheepishly. It had been a long time since he had let go like that. "Um, sorry about the mess." She pointed to Joyce's now blood/tear-soaked blouse. "You should probably change that before Buffy gets home, otherwise she'll freak big time."

"In a minute." Joyce ran a hand through his hair before sliding it down to his cheek, making him look at her. "I..." She sighed. "I really don't know what to do now, Xander." She smiled wanly. "I understand what you are now, but I can still see who you were before in there. It's very confusing."

"Heh. Try living it!" He replied with a weary grin. "But, don't worry about me making a habit of this. I think I only came here tonight to say goodbye."

Joyce felt a surge of conflicting emotions at that statement.

"I can't just turn up like I used to anymore. The amount of flak Wills is copping from the others over talking to me just _once _is proof of that. So I arranged for the Buffster to be distracted tonight so she wouldn't come bursting in here at the wrong time."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing bad." Xander insisted innocently. At Joyce's sceptical look, he amended his words. "Well, nothing bad to Oz and Giles. I did kinda rough up the unibrow a bit, though."

Mrs. Summers snickered at that. Angel was not high on _her _list of acquaintances either. "Fair enough."

"Um..." He grew serious. "You mentioned Cordy before, when I came in. How is she?"

"Not too good, I'm afraid." She answered softly. "She's taking what happened to you harder than anyone was expecting her to. On top of that, her father is in trouble with the IRS. The Chases are broke, or soon will be."

"Damn." Xander groaned. "And I can't try to help her through this. Even if I was still normal, she'd push me away with that damn pride of hers."

"But you'll try?" It wasn't quite a question. Joyce's voice was firm.

"Yeah. If nothing else, it'll give her a chance to vent at me." He sighed. Looking at the wall clock, he sighed even deeper. "I should get going. Buff'll be back from patching Angel up soon, an' I don't think you want us fighting on the front lawn."

Joyce nodded. "One for the road?" She asked as she held her arms out. Xander accepted the invitation after a moment's hesitation.

"I'm gonna miss this." He said into her hair.

"Me too." She replied softly. Releasing him, she stepped back and gave him a sad smile.

Xander returned it as he turned and headed for the back door. Half way out, he paused and looked at her. "Bye Mom." He whispered as he slipped into the night.

Joyce fought back her tears. "Bye Son."

* * *

The next day, the Scoobies met up at the Library to swap stories from the night before in hopes of discerning a reason for Xander's actions, as well as bring those that were not directly involved, like Cordelia, Willow and Wesley, up to speed.

That the events of the previous night were all simply a distraction did not occur to them.

"And your sure that he reached across the threshold without _any _invitation from you?" Wesley asked again, coming dangerously close to Giles' last nerve at the same time.

"For the last time, _**YES**_, you annoying little pillock!" Rupert hissed darkly as he stood up.

Wesley took a step backwards, reaching up to wipe his glasses as a way of masking his nervousness. "There is no need to get testy Mister Giles. I am merely trying to ascertain the details and-"

"We get it, Wussley." Buffy interrupted, putting a hand on Giles' forearm. She did not need an appearance of 'Ripper' right now, no matter how satisfying it would be to see her _real _Watcher go to town on the interloper. "Now, seeing as you apparently have more access to the Council records than us, have you ever read of anything like this happening before?"

"Um, well...no." Wesley shrugged weakly. "As Mister Giles will no doubt agree, a vampire that is able to cross thresholds uninvited and be unaffected by Holy Artefacts is, quite simply, unprecedented in the Watcher records. Or throughout recorded history, actually."

"I agree, unfortunately." Giles added in a sour tone. "Which tends to add credence to Xander's request of Willow."

Willow gave Giles, Buffy, Wesley and Oz a smug 'I-Told-You-So' look.

"However, it does not bring us any closer to the answer of what he is now."

"Um...I've been looking through your books for the past few weeks, Giles, and I think I may have an idea." Willow stated, gaining everyone's attention.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense, you boyfriend-stealer, spit it out!" Cordelia demanded.

"_HEY!_" Willow yelled indignantly. "Maybe if you hadn't treated Xander like he was something you'd scrape off your shoe all the time, he wouldn't have- MMPH!" Whatever Willow was going to say next was lost into the hand Buffy had clamped over her mouth.

"Willow? Not saying things like that when your boyfriend is in the room would be of the good. He might get the wrong idea." Turning away from the growing look of horror on her best friends face, the Slayer faced the Queen of Sunnydale High, "As for you, Cordelia. Willow and Xander kissed. That's it. Get over it! Also, the only reason they were with each other in the first place for Spike to capture them was because they were in the middle of doing a de-lusting spell on each other. _He'd chosen you_, _**over **_Willow."

"...whuh?" Unable to come up with a cutting retort to that little nugget of information, Cordelia huffed and flounced out of the library. The tears didn't come until after she was safely out of sight.

_"Thought she'd never leave." _Buffy muttered to herself as she turned back to her best friend. "We ready to get back on topic now?" When Willow nodded, she finally removed the hand covering the budding Wicca's mouth.

"Right. Where were we? Oh yeah, my theory." Willow drew in a deep breath and began talking. "Um this is only a work in progress I actually have no way to prove this without some powerful outside help Giles I might need you to call in a couple of favours to help me with this-"

"Wills, focus please. Your babbling." Buffy chided gently.

"Sorry. I'll start again..."

* * *

Cordelia waited until the school day was finished, and they were all starting to go home, before approaching Buffy again. "Was that true?" Buffy blinked at her, confused. "What you said in there earlier? About that spell."

The Slayer sighed. "Yeah, it was. Those two knew what they were doing together was wrong, so they decided to do something about it before it got any more out of hand."

Cordelia's whole body slumped. "You mean that..."

"If you'd pulled your head out of your ass and accepted that no-one's perfect, plus actually listened to him when he tried to explain it to you, you two might still be together?" Buffy supplied in a saccharine tone.

"And he might still be alive." The other teen shot back, unwilling to take any crap from the Summers girl.

"..." Buffy sucked in a gasping breath, like she'd just been gut-punched.

Cordy, realising that she may have gone a little too far in retaliating, tried to stammer out an apology. "Buffy, I-"

"Fuck you, Cordelia Chase." She hissed, actually bearing her teeth at the other girl. "I screwed up. I _know _I screwed up. And I know _how badly _I screwed up." She snarled. "I helped kill one of my best friends! No, worse. I put him in a position where he was turned into one of the things he hated most in this world." She thumped herself in the chest with a fist. "I did that! _ME! _And because I couldn't find it in myself to trust the one guy who's always had my back, we're both going to be paying for my stupidity for the rest of our goddamn lives." By now she was beginning to slump towards the ground, once again lost in her own grief over what she had helped cause.

Knowing innately that anything she said now would be worth nothing, Cordelia decided to cut her losses and take her to someone who could put her back together again properly.

"...where are we going?" Buffy asked when she once again became aware of her surroundings.

"Home." Was all the other girl said as she firmly guided the Slayer towards her car.

* * *

Joyce looked up from the gallery paperwork strewn over the dinner table as the front door opened. "Oh, hi sweetie! How was your day? Are you alright?" She asked as her puffy-eyed daughter came into view, followed by a diffident Cordelia. "Cordy? How are you? And what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Hi Joyce." Cordelia answered softly. "I, uh, I kinda upset Buffy after school. So I figured I had better deliver her home so nothing got her while she was pulling herself back together."

"Since when do you call my mom 'Joyce'?" Buffy demanded.

"Since I asked her to, dear." Mrs. Summers interjected smoothly with a warning glare at her daughter. "And what were you two arguing with each other about now?"

"Um..."

"Err..."

"Xander then." She stated confidently.

"_**What?!**_" Both teens shouted at her together.

"What else would it be." She shrugged. "You both still care about him more than your willing to admit, even to yourselves. And its the only thing that really upsets the both of you."

Buffy looked slightly affronted by that statement, mostly out of reflex, while Cordelia went somewhat livid.

"You too!? As if Rosenberg wasn't bad enough." She started, before blinking. "Wait...why am I surprised by that? That dweeb used to worship the ground you walked on."

"What! What do you mean, 'used to'?" Buffy demanded, forgetting for a second that her best male friend was supposed to be just 'one-of-the-girls'.

"Puh-_lease_!" Cordelia drawled. "You shot him down every time he even hinted at asking you out. You practically dismissed him as a male. Heck, you even chose a member of the undead as a lover over the guy whose had your back in sickness and health since day one, and why the _hell _am I talking him up to _you _of all people?" She trailed off, annoyed with herself for coming to Xander's defence.

"Um, really?" Buffy whispered, mentally reviewing her time on the Hellmouth.

"Oh Gawd, she's got _that _look on her face." Cordelia moaned. "Now that the doofus is a vamp, she'll be _all _over him."

"What? NO!" The Slayer shouted, spinning to face her mother. "Mom! It's not true. _Really!_" She continued as Joyce got a worried look on her face.

"Uh-huh."

"_MOM!_"

"What? Oh, yes dear. I believe you." Joyce quickly assured her daughter, struggling to keep her smirk from showing. _'I know I shouldn't, but teasing this girl is __so__ much fun.' _

After several minutes of Buffy swapping between cussing Cordelia out and frantically reassuring her mother, during which time both women smirked in turn when the diminutive Slayer faced the other, Miss Chase noted that it was getting dark, and took her leave of the Summers household.

* * *

_'That was fun.' _Cordelia thought to herself wistfully as she drove towards her home. She really got along well with Joyce Summers. They both shared similar tastes, outlooks on life, and didn't mind a bit of verbal sparring from time to time. In her rare contemplative moments, she honestly wished that she would turn out to be someone like the older woman when she grew up. Hopefully without going through the broken marriage and having a whiny kid, of course.

_'I wish...I mean, I wonder if he and I would have turned out okay together?'_ Cordy blinked away a tear. _'Damnit!' _She didn't like doing the 'what-if?' thing with respects to Xander. Thinking about the lost opportunity hurt too much. _'Even if it __was__ his fault we didn't last. I just... it was nice to have someone at that pathetic school who could match me insult for insult.' _As more tears flowed, she pulled over and reached into the glove compartment to grab a tissue.

Blowing her nose and wiping her face, she was just about to dispose of the used tissue when she saw someone approaching her car window. Turning her head for a better look, her eyes bugged out in shock.

Xander.

_'Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh CRAP!'_ She frantically tried to put the car in gear and get away as he walked towards her. Just as she was about to plant her foot on the accelerator, he blurred. Next thing she knew, Xander was turning the ignition off and removing her keys.

"Hey Cordy. You up for a chat?"

* * *

More notes: Michae1ange1o, to put your fears to rest, Xander will _**NOT**_ sparkle in the sunlight in my fic. And I'll bloody well take a stake to him myself if he even thinks of attempting to!

**-CHAPTER END-**


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